So naturally, I grew quite curious (and equally confused) about this 'Sleep No More'. In fact, my curiosity had been growing for quite some time now, maybe for a few years. What the heck was it? All I really knew about it was that it was an interactive experience of some sort that took place at a hotel and that there would be actors. So, still not knowing quite
exactly what
this experience would entail, I was very excited when my boyfriend surprised me with tickets to Sleep No More this past Christmas.
It was finally going to happen! My curiosity would soon be relieved. I didn't want to spoil any part of my experience by reading online reviews ahead of time but I have to admit I did do a little light Yelping the day before. (I can't help it sometimes). Anyway, it did me no good whatsoever because after what I read on
Yelp, I was left even more confused than before. It was surprising to see how many people didn't want to give too much away with what they wrote in their reviews. What I did read though, was that there would be a mandatory coat and purse check, we would be wearing masks, and we may or may not see some barenaked lady parts. Things were getting real weird real fast, and I liked it. I also read that if you go with someone, it is suggested that you split up and "choose your own adventure". Whatever that meant...
So off we went. We arrived at the McKittrick Hotel right at 7:30 pm ready for the night ahead. If you choose to read further than this then just know you are in for some
*SPOILERS* below.
This was my Sleep No More experience...
Welcomed by a tall man with a very deep voice and a top hat, we entered through two super tall doors into a very dark lobby area before checking our coats. Once we were hands free, my boyfriend and I were each handed a mask that we were asked to wear throughout our entire experience (surprise, surprise). We were then directed down a long hallway that led us to two women behind what looked like bank teller stations. They were both dressed in character and I instantly felt like we were in a different time and place. Each woman handed us an individual playing card. My boyfriend got the Thirteen of Diamonds and I got The Joker.
"These will be your keys for the evening, please enter through the stairs on your right and enjoy your stay," they told us.
So up the stairs we went, hands held, it was dark and we were led only by candlelight as we climbed a couple of flights. I felt like we were about to go on a ride or something! The not-knowing of what was to come next was a very exciting feeling. After a minute or two, I started to hear music and things began to brighten up as we were welcomed into the main lobby of the hotel. What we walked into was so cool! It was as if the staircase we walked up beforehand was a time machine and once we reached the top we were instantly thrown into the early 1930's. The set decoration was incredible. The room was fairly large with low ceilings; it felt like a fancy basement cellar, even though I knew we were above ground. To the right of me was a long bar, the only one in the room, that stretched long against the wall. Dead ahead of us was a stage that had a piano, an old school drum set, and a double bass. Everyone else in this room had their masks off, which I soon learned was because the real experience hadn't
actually begun yet. This was the main floor, also known to the public as
Manderley Bar, in which we could come to at any time during the experience if we needed a break from wearing our masks, wanted to buy a drink, or whatever. The bartender, the cocktail waitresses, and anyone that I noticed who seemed to work there was in Character at all times. All of them beautiful.
The lobby looked like this:
A minute or two upon entering this room, an announcement was made.
"Hello everyone! We will be calling in the first group now according to your room keys, please come with me all DIAMONDS."
My boyfriend had the Diamond, and me the Joker, remember... but I wasn't quite ready to separate from him just yet so we both put on our masks and entered the room in which the Diamonds were called together. There were about twelve of us that crammed into this small room that had four black painted walls. A door shut behind us and it gave me that same exact feel of the room you go into before entering the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. You know the one that's secretly an elevator and appears to have walls that grow super, super tall? Well, this room wasn't an elevator but that's exactly where we ended up heading next.
On the opposite side of the room that we entered, a door slid open and a bellman appeared before inviting us onto an elevator with him. So on we went -- I was beyond excited at this point. HERE WE GO! Everyone in the elevator was silent as we listened to the bellman's introduction. I could feel the elevator was going up. I noticed as he began to speak that he glanced down at my boyfriend and I holding hands and then he goes on to say, "For those of you... who have not come alone to the McKittrick Hotel tonight, it is suggested that you separate from your party... as Sleep No More is most enjoyable as an individual experience." (READ: speaking in a british dialect much like Sherlock Holmes)
The elevator stops. "You have reached the third floor. Please exit and enjoooy! Sleep. No. More."
More than half of our group exits, my boyfriend slightly in front of me, and as soon as he steps off the elevator the bellman puts his arm directly in between us keeping me on the elevator as my boyfriend walks off, oblivious. The bellman then shuts the door with me still inside. Silence. It's just me, the bellman, and two other people that I don't know.
"Have I just separated you from your chaperone for the evening?" he asks me.
"No chaperone this evening..." I tell him.
He takes a moment of silence, opens the door to the next floor, looks at me and says, "very good answer."
I stepped off the elevator and so my individual adventure began.
"WHAT IS THIS PLACE???" I thought. It was dark, but not too dark to see. I was inside of a massive, Victorian, 1930's style mansion. It was beautiful, unique, mysterious, creepy, and had me oh-so-curious all in one setting. There were so many rooms that I couldn't even count them, each one with their own style and their own story to tell. Although, altogether the rooms were cohesive and a part of a much larger story. Each room was filled with such incredible detail, and I soon learned that the whole point of this experience was to explore every single room in its entirety in order to understand it all. We could open all the drawers, read all the books, touch all the items; it was like a giant interactive puzzle that filled me with never-ending curiosity.
The first room I entered had to be the creepiest, by far. (A lovely way to begin). It was a small room with a crib in the middle of it. Surrounding the crib and hanging from the ceiling, were about one hundred dead baby dolls. YEAH. Dead baby dolls. I already find dolls to be supremely creepy, so this room definitely gave me the heeby-jeebies. I was pretty much in and out of that room and quickly onto the next...
As I traveled through the halls, there were other people in masks, just like myself, who were running around from room to room and exploring. Just to give you a better visual understanding of what was happening, the masks looked like this:
I noticed a large group of masked people all flocking to the same room and so my curious little self followed to see what the hype was. In here, I found a woman. (no mask on! she was the first actor I encountered in the experience). She appeared pregnant. She looked very distraught and sad and then another man entered the room and came to her. They had an intense exchange of emotion, seemingly lovers, and their exchange was displayed only through dance. No one ever spoke in Sleep No More.
Each room that I encountered after this one became more and more interesting. More actors appeared throughout the experience, each telling their own portion of the story. The actors themselves would run from room to room as their characters played out their scenes. It was like watching a play, but the set was a mansion, and we were all just flies on the wall. What was so cool to me was how close we could get to the actors and everything they were experiencing. The best way I could describe it is if you've ever imagined what it would be like to be a ghost? or invisible? This was probably the closest you could ever get to having that feeling in real life.
Like this:
and some of the other rooms I explored looked like this:
You aren't allowed to take photos inside of Sleep No More, so what I have to show you here is pretty minimal. There were so many rooms to explore that you can only ever see by going inside. There were several bedrooms, a candy shop, a bath house, an enchanted forest, a wooden maze, a sanitarium, a torture chamber room, a room with padded walls, a graveyard, a doctor's office, a wash room, several drinking areas, a bar, a library, a private loft (where I watched a man get killed!), and a big and beautiful ballroom where the final "scene" of Sleep No More takes place.
I did manage to snap one personal photo while we were there. Here we are at the very end...
All in all, I can agree that this is something that is definitely more enjoyable as an individual experience, just like they told us. It was really fun to exchange stories with each other once it was over. We had two completely different experiences! He saw things that I totally missed and vise versa. I now understand why people want to go back over and over again, because you really can't see it all by going just one time. Your experience will depend on which rooms you explore and at which times you explore them. The entire experience allows you to explore for up to three hours in this magical mansion of secrets, so I highly recommend getting there early so that you can get the most out of your time offered.
Oh, and BONUS: you get to keep your mask and your room key. So if you ever get the chance, GO! You won't regret it.
