Lockhill Escape Rooms - Sanatorium Review (Athens)

Hi all

The next escape room that we checked out on our November-December 2024 trip to Athens and Spain was The Sanatorium at Lockhill Escape Rooms.

We had heard great things about Lockhill, particularly their Chapel & Catacombs room, which has previously sat at #1 on TERPECA (and which sat at #3 at the time that we played it).  The Sanatorium sat at #81 at the time that we played it, having previously peaked at #5 on TERPECA.

Sanatorium was our 323rd room to date. Here is what I thought:

• the theming in Sanatorium was pretty strong. The quality of the set design and props were all very good;
• after about the tenth minute of this experience, my mood dropped a little due to my left foot being completely saturated. In fairness, before we began, our GM warned us that before opening any doors we should be careful because there is one room with water in it. That is however easier said than done, given the very low lighting and the fear/excitement/adrenalin. So of course, I opened a door and then found my foot in ankle-deep water. Actually, it was so brown and gross that I think it is more accurate to call it filthy liquid. The owners really should clean the water (regularly would be nice, annually would be an improvement). And it wouldn’t kill them to lay down a metal grille so that players don’t actually have to stand beneath the surface of the water...
• I remember coming away from Sanatorium thinking that the puzzles were ok, but nothing spectacular. There were some hunt and seek elements and some puzzles that required players to remember different elements from different rooms, but overall the puzzles were just ok and the storyline was quickly forgotten;
• we did not play the scariest version available of this room and maybe the scarier version would have been a better (albeit horrifying) experience. Having since played many scary rooms in Athens and Spain, I wish we had played the scarier version of Sanatorium, because the scarier character interactions probably make up 50% of the ‘puzzles’ in this experience.

I thought Sanatorium was just ok. They need to fix the gross water issue and I think they need to consider including more puzzles in the non “Midnight” (scariest version) of the experience to make it a little more interesting for players.

Where:                   Deligiorgi 55-59, Platia Karaiskaki Athens

Duration:               90 minutes

TERPECA:             The Sanatorium #81 in 2024 (previously #5)

Themes:                 5 themes

Overall Rating:      We were a little underwhelmed

More details:          https://www.lockhill.gr/