Hotel Veloria: Lost and Found (Volkel)

Is this a real hotel?

Our hotel was once a magnet for talented flamboyant high-flyers, but that all changed on that one night in the fall of 1982, the night Grandpa George knocked on the door. Weird things happened, inexplicable things even. Guests fled head over heels and in a blind panic they left their belongings behind. The suitcases piled up and the rooms remained empty.

They say that objects preserve memories best. You know that feeling when you’ve lost something and are afraid of losing memories? You’re in luck because we found your suitcase. Come and get your suitcase quickly so that your memories do not fade.

We had heard a rumour at the end of 2024 that Demise of the Gricers would be closing imminently. That was one game we didn’t want to miss, so we quickly planned a trip to Belgium to ensure that we didn’t. Spoiler alert: Demise of the Gricers didn’t close, and is still going strong, but it was as good an excuse as any to make a proper escape trip, encompassing both Belgium and The Netherlands.

The second day of our trip had already been a rather busy day, with our first stop at The Toy Factory, followed by the reason for our trip (Gricers), but it wasn’t over, and we made haste across the border into The Netherlands to check into our hotel. Well, sort of; we were headed to Hotel Veloria (it was Kamer 237 when we visited) for Lost and Found.

Hotel Veloria is also the home of Kamer 237, the company’s first room which achieved number 32 on the TERPECA rankings in 2019. But we only had time for one game, and instead of Hotel Veloria’s first game, we opted for the company’s newest game: Lost and Found. (Which also coincidentally made its TERPECA debut at number 32 in 2022.)

We arrived in Volkel quite late in the evening, and had a short stroll around town before heading to Hotel Veloria, and taking advantage of the ample parking out front. But unlike when we enter many escape room venues, stepping through the entrance to Hotel Veloria was like stepping into a hotel lobby, where we were greeted immediately upon arrival, and asked if we were there to collect our forgotten suitcase.

Which of course we were, but it made sense to take a moment to sit in the bar, have a drink, relax, and chat with our host, Justin, while others went off in search of our suitcase. While we were never rushed, and our time in the bar was quite leisurely, eventually, it became rather apparent that our suitcase was missing, and we would need to retrieve it ourselves. Justin led us to the door of Lost and Found, and with a few words about the Lost Property Master, who may be able to help us along the way, it was time to begin.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

The door to Lost and Found opened, and it was breath-taking. It was also quite clear why the staff at Hotel Veloria had been unable to find “our” suitcase.  Almost fantastical in design, it had an almost dreamlike quality to it, which was reinforced throughout by the fragments of memory/exposition that were revealed as we progressed further and further.

Suffice it to say, Lost and Found is about so much more than simply recovering our missing suitcase. The game is driven by a rich and poignant narrative, that if you take the time to stop and enjoy the moments of narrative exposition as they occur, may move some players to tears. But you do have to ensure you stop and take in those moments, as the puzzles do devolve into two parallel streams, allowing teams to split up, yes, but also making it possible to miss some key aspects of the narrative.

PUZZLES

As seems to be the case with the majority of the games that we’ve played in The Netherlands, the narrative of Lost and Found is definitely the focus of the game. But that narrative was underpinned by a rather large expanse of solid, and sometimes rather complex puzzles. In fact, there’s no “sometimes” about it. The puzzles in Lost and Found were all complex, with layers and nuance that meant things weren’t always just as simple as they appeared. But as much as the narrative was the focus, the puzzles are so closely entwined with the narrative, that as we solved them, more fragments of the story came to light, tying together the moments of pure storytelling and adding subtle reinforcement of the narrative.

Of course, along with being complex, the puzzles throughout Lost and Found, had some really just fantastic reveals and “Ah Ha!” moments, thanks to the subtle, but clear telegraphing, in addition to being invariably fair in their logic despite the complexity.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

‘Games Master’ in The Netherlands isn’t just a job, it is almost an art, and our GM, Justin, was as talented as any we’ve had so far – friendly, personable, funny, and just an all-round excellent host, from the moment we walked into Hotel Veloria in search of our lost suitcase, straight through to our debriefing following the game. Games in The Netherlands don’t end when the story finishes, and we were treated to a wonderfully thorough debrief with Justin. He even took the time to take us back in the room to allow members of the team to see puzzles they had missed out on whilst solving others.

Of course, although we know it was Justin deciding when to offer assistance on any troublesome puzzles, the game would have lost something if that help had arrived through a walkie talkie or a screen. Instead, playing into the dreamlike quality of the game, assistance came from Harold, the Lost Property Master, floating through the airwaves almost like fragments of his memories, to gently get us back on track.

ANYTHING ELSE

Lost and Found is a stunning example of a classic, narrative led escape room, bursting with story, and some rather exceptional and complex puzzles. My only regret about the experience is that we only had time for one game on this trip, and missed out on the other games on offer at Hotel Veloria.

Success / Failure

Final Rating:

Team: 4 players – took around 60 mins

Address: Aert Willemsstraat 6, 5408 AL Volkel, Netherlands

Website: https://hotelveloria.nl/