The insight: A young audience does not care about Hotel ads. But: They care about urban adventures around them, and escape games are the ones that are most popular in Switzerland. The idea was to turn one empty and unused room into an “Escape Room”. An escape room is a physical adventure game in which players solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints and strategy to complete the objectives at hand. So Novotel could not only invite guests, but „players“.

One room has been completely transformed – into the most exciting hotel room in Switzerland.

With ROOM 67, Novotel has created the world’s first escape room to be located within a hotel. An unused room becomes a gamification experience – not just for hotel guests but above all for a young target group.

Over 4000 players have used it since February 2017. ROOM 67 generates three times more income than a regular room – with no money spent for paid media.Novotel has been able to increase its brand awareness by 19.4% and bookings from the younger target group are up 3.6%. Another four escape rooms are being created in Novotel hotels in Switzerland.