Just as its name would suggest, Neverland is not your usual Budapest escape room place. Arriving at their mysterious-looking entrance we were welcomed by an empty reception desk at the end of a corridor with several doors opening on each side. I did the instinctive and rang the bell on the counter to find one of the doors opening by itself. As I and my friends ascended the stairs a mysterious new world opened up to us.
When I say this place is not usual, I mean Neverland is anything but! The underground dungeon evokes an otherworldly atmosphere with its wild and intertwining design elements covering the walls. Delicious smells greeted us as we stepped into the impressive bar area of this massive establishment. Turns out Neverland is equipped with a gourmet kitchen preparing freshly-made street food-style delicacies made to their own image with specialties like their famous Neverland Burger or the delicious Freddy Mercury cheese selection.
Stocked up on food we decided to have a go at one of their notoriously mind-bending escape rooms. These guys built up some of the most elaborate and well-designed rooms in Budapest which is truly saying something considering the massive amount of high-quality escape rooms available in the city.
From their range of 5 rooms, we opted for the Wild West-themed one. A friendly hostess just simply went ahead and locked us all up in an impressively authentic old-west-style prison cell. From then on it was a little over 50 minutes of solving tricky riddles, finding hidden objects, turning valves, and finally happening upon a massive moneybag full of (imaginary) wild west ca$h money. I wouldn’t have imagined I’d have this much of a blast playing a game but these guys really know how to create fun experiences. Aside from the escape rooms, Neverland offers unique VR experiences as well to take you even further down the rabbit hole.
One of my favorite things in this funky complex however is unarguably their so-called “private room”. This place is a super-classy-looking Great Gatsby-style VIP lounge that comes with a piano and its own bar stocked with the highest quality booze of Hungarian and international origin you could ask for. Complete with laid-back armchairs and couches, this is hands down my new favorite place for luxury gatherings with friends and classy meetings.
The greatest fun however came only after dusk, even though we didn’t realize the sun had already set on us. Walking out of the VIP room a little buzzed, we found a large gathering of people and wild rockabilly music blasting through the speakers. As our hosts enlightened us, the place organizes regular day and nighttime thematic events such as a Medieval Feast, Children’s Day programs, or the Hungarian Rockabilly craze that we managed to stumble into. The cozy and almost psychedelic, the neon-lit stage was burning with energy as the boys rocked the whole house all the way up to the roof (and that’s an impressive distance) while the whole packed hall was on their feet, feeling the Boogey.
Needless to say, we couldn’t resist joining the fun, and that’s how a quick, afternoon room escape turned into a massive hangover and some amazing memories the next day.
