ENTERTAINMENT: HIJINX HOTEL

A sense of escapism

Funlab’s Hijinx Hotel points to a new future in entertainment hospitality, as Seamus May discovers.

FUNLAB IS the company behind some of Australia’s most popular entertainment venues, perhaps most notable of which is Holey Moley– a series of 18 mini-golf venues dotted across Australia. Funlab’s most recent venue, the high-concept Hijinx Hotel, pushes the envelope of what entertainment venues can be, and demonstrates how a theme can be incorporated into every element of the on-premise.

Hijinx Hotel is a sprawling ‘challenge room hotel’ in the inner-Sydney suburb of Alexandria containing 15 different games rooms, and a full18-hole mini-golf course. What it is not, however, is an accommodation hotel – despite a full hotel-lobby bar, a faux-concierge complete with room keys and traditional hotel elevator (including bell-boys). You cannot stay at Hijinx.

In this regard, the location emulates some of the hottest trends in the on-premise, with Sydney’s award-winning Maybe Sammy known for being a ‘hotel bar, without the hotel’.

Australian Hotelier spoke to Blaise Witnish, chief growth and innovation officer at Funlab, to learn more about Hijinx’s creation, where it fits in the company’s portfolio and broader developments in the entertainment market.

The Hijinx Hotel design replicates an accommodation hotel

“We were looking at global trends around immersive art, and we also saw this guest love for working collaboratively or competitively in social play to solve problems,” Witnish says.

“We started to think about creating a space where people can truly escape – we wanted to make sure this concept took you to another place, and there was trickery in it. We started with the entertainment element, and then thought about what kind of environment would fit.” The ‘hotel’ is designed to capture this child-like escapism. “The interior design is very much inspired by Wes Anderson meets Willy Wonka,” explains Witnish.

“There’s 15 hotel rooms – they look and feel like hotel rooms, except behind the door of each of them, this is where the actual entertainment takes place. And in these rooms is where we really had some fun designing collaboratively fun games.”

NOT YOUR AVERAGE ENTERTAINMENT

Para Hills Community Club in the northern suburbs of Adelaide is a multi-award-winning venue with a focus on providing a casual meeting place for friends and family. Since returning to business after the ongoing interruptions of Covid-19 the team at Para Hills, led by manager Cameron Taylor, have doubled down on their intentions to provide quality facilities, food and beverage and entertainment to their patrons.

Instagram-friendly backgrounds were considered in the hotel’s design

One of the newer initiatives they have taken on is DJ Bingo, which was launched at the venue in March 2021. DJ Bingo is bingo with a beat.

“Our DJ Bingo event has been extremely well received,” said Taylor. “Wednesday night in the club bar is up 11.9% in sales and DJ Bingo is a significant contributor to that result. DJ Bingo is highly effective in bringing people to a venue and keeping them onsite for longer.

“There is a great mix of demographics,” said Cameron, “players come along and enjoy a meal and a couple of drinks. It’s a product that draws people back.”

With great tunes being played by a friendly, fully trained Mix Master, DJ Bingo boosts the atmosphere in venue and makes for a memorable night for all involved.

“I believe that energy connects people to the product,” said Taylor. “I would tell venue managers looking at DJ Bingo that the product will give them a connection with their clientele.”

Inclusive and adapatable

There was no one demographic in mind when designing these rooms, with games appealing to a broad spectrum of people across age ranges.

“We wanted to make sure everyone from a five year old to a 95 year old can play it. It’s quite important to us as a business to be really inclusive,” states Witnish.

Each room is designed to appeal to kids and adults alike

“What we do have the ability to do is change the atmosphere and vibe day into night. So we want kids and families to feel really welcome in the space during the day, but at eight o’clock and thereafter, to really appeal to any Zennials and Millennials and older age groups.”

A distinctive element of Hijinx that other venue operators may look to follow is the number of social media spaces on offer, designed to be snapped and shared by patrons. Angel’s wings are found on the walls, creating an instant photo opportunity, while oversized thrones and interactive golf holes based on popular TV shows have the same effect.

Witnish says this was a deliberate decision, leaning into “immersive art and this love for posing using the ‘gram.”

Eye-catching beverages

Hijinx is, of course, a licenced premises with three bars spread across two floors. Hijinx partnered with Casamigos Tequila as a ‘launch beverage partner’, providing the spirit for a series of frozen margaritas. Witnish believes there is possible room for expansion here.

There are three bars throughout Hijinx Hotel

“We’re actually adding another brand with a fourth bar in early 2023. We’ll look to do a lot more with Casamigos in our other Funlab brands and venues.”

The entertainment factor is also incorporated into the drinks offering itself – another common feature of other Funlab venues.

“The vessels are pretty crazy – what we love to do is take the concept and theming and drive that into the beverage menu. So in Hijinx, you could be drinking out of a penguin shake, out of an owl tiki cup, popping a bubble off a beautiful matte white martini glass with a scent of bubblegum.

“I get really excited about how the innovation and concept goes right through the many layers – we go the whole hog on making sure that the concept is really felt from end-to-end, and in the beverages and all of our menus,” Witnish continues.

Eye-catching glassware and cocktails are part of Hijinx’s drinks strategy

“We had a lot of fun with the beverage team trying to find some really phenomenal vessels to create unique moments and special experiences for our guests.”

‘Fun’ is the apt word to describe Hijinx Hotel, a venue that takes trends in the entertainment hospitality industry to their extremes, and permeates the entire venue’s offering with a clear concept.