No, a THATMuse Rep meets teams at the beginning for a brief orientation of the museum, to go through the rules and explain how to strategise, before sending teams off the explore the museum by themselves. You can opt for a Luxe Hunt, where a THATMuse Rep prowls the galleries to keep teams in check and then meets everyone at the end for score-tallying and a lighthearted prize-giving ceremony (we recommend these for large group bookings such as birthday parties, corporate hunts etc, as it is of course more expensive). However, no hunt is accompanied throughout the museum, as the purpose of THATMuse is for you to get to know the museums on your own.
A typical hunt lasts 90 mins to 2 hours. It’s intentional that you can’t find all your treasure in this time, with the hope that you’ll want to see more of the galleries after you’re done beating the other team!
No, because some of our museums don’t require tickets (the British Museum is free). Plus it’s easy to buy your own entry tickets to the Musée d’Orsay and Louvre directly through their websites (and we recommend you do this, as it’s much cheaper than buying them through a third party! You can buy your Louvre tickets here and Musée d’Orsay tickets here).
If you have booked a Classic or Luxe THATMuse we recommend you book your tickets for 30 minutes after your start time. This allows time for you to meet your THATMuse greeter who will explain how the hunt works, then lead you through security. The best and cheapest place to get your Louvre entry tickets is at the official Louvre site.
Please note that during high season waiting times for people with Museum Passes can be up to 2 hours long. In that case, rather than staying with you on the line as per our normal procedure, your THATMuse Rep will tell you the rules of the hunt outside the museum in a shady alcove.
As of 25 July 2019, please note that despite the Paris Tourist Board issuing Museum Passes (that list the Louvre), the Louvre has started delaying entry to Museum Passes when their own tickets are sold out. We cannot control, nor predict what the Louvre and the Paris Tourist Board do or how they settle their altercation.
If you've gotten a Museum pass, please remember to book a time slot for your Louvre visit. You can do so here.
Please note that as per our website and all correspondences, it is the hunt purchaser’s responsibility to buy entry tickets to the museum, and we cannot refund your hunt if you’re unable to purchase museum tickets. If you’re in a bind, we do have a helpful blog post on finding last-minute tickets to the Louvre.
Not much! Comfortable shoes, a phone that take photos or a camera, and of course freshly charged batteries in that phone/camera are essential!
Typically, 2 to 4 people. Unless you’re looking for a large group hunt (we’ve hosted up to 200 people simultaneously), exceptions can be made for a 5-person team, but the larger the team the harder it is to navigate. Louvre legislation prohibits teams of 6 and up.
When a theme has too many rooms down, unfortunately we place it on hold until we can re-build it. However, for other hunts who are only lightly touched we always provide excess treasure & for the few pieces down we place a sticker within the hunt next to the treasure that's not available. Unfortunately on weekdays about 10% of alternating departments of the Louvre is closed daily, for instance:
● Monday & Wednesdays: Near Eastern Antiquities, Middle Ages
● Thursday: French Sculpture
● Friday: Egyptian Antiquities
● Weekends: All treasures available, all departments open
If you’re booking for a Public Hunt, certainly! Otherwise, we have a 3-person minimum for bookings, unless you either a) opt for “friendly competition” (in which case you’ll just pay for 2 people), or b) pay a supplement of 25€ to meet our 3-person minimum. If you opt for “friendly competition” but no one surfaces for the same time/date/theme, etc, you’ll be requested to pay this extra charge.
Yes, the general rule is a 1:1 ratio, although families of 5 have often played with 3 kids to 2 adults per ratio. For families with young children (under 7 yrs aged) we recommend those teams have two adults.
All existing hunts are offered English. Some of our Paris hunts (at the Louvre and for THATRue) are also offered in French & Spanish. And we’re in the process of launching a Spanish hunt at the British Museum.
We have gift certificates available for THATMuse hunts at the British Museum, Natural History Museum, V&A in London, as well as in Paris at the Louvre and Musee d’Orsay (the concept of which is identical). Let us know your preferred city or museum!
If you provide us the information needed (the names of the gift giver, recipient and a message and of course their email address), we will put together an email for you or us to send them all they need to set up their THATMuse! We do not send out physical certificates, as we have had trouble with them reliably arriving to the intended in good condition or at all...
- Gift Certificates are valid for up to six people.
- We require at least 48 hours’notice,but the hunt can be booked as far in advance as the recipient wishes.
- The gift certificate has a three month expiry from the date of purchase, and it is the recipient's responsibility to get in touch withTHATMuseto book a specific date and time. Specific dates and times are subject to availability. It is best to request a range of dates/times to find one that best suits our availability and the recipient’s choice.
PRICES/TYPES OF HUNT:
- A Luxe hunt for families of 6 or fewer (if families are smaller they are welcomed to invite friends to consist of a 6-person booking) costs £300/3 hours. This covers the organisation & materials (team packs with clipboards, the hunts, highlighted maps, pencils, as well of course as weighty medals for the winning team and teasing poke prizes for the 2nd place team). During the 3 hours the THATMuse Rep briefs teams on the hunt, shows them how to strategize and orients them to the museum's layout; whilst playing we prowl about after them to spot check no cheating and maybe throw help on bonus questions. Then we all regroup for score tallying and prize-giving (which can be organized at a nearby café/pub or within the museum depending on client plans).
- A simpler budget version also exists where you are not met at the end of the hunt.
SECURING YOUR BOOKING: When everything’s been set, we’ll send you an invoice payable by credit card online. Please note, no booking is secured until we’ve received this payment. Upon Payment we will send you our finished Gift Certificate to the recipient, with you in copy. Alternatively, if you prefer to give the gift in person, we can send you the PDF of the Gift Certificate to print and let them contact us with a set of proposed dates.
No, that’s the purpose of THATMuse! We aim to introduce you to the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay or British Museum and whet the art-historical appetite of non-art lovers and connoisseurs alike!
THATMuse is flexible for all ages, as our corporate market attests. Teenagers and young adults are often encouraged to play as a team against their parents (or some families like boys vs girls).
Absolutely! Children of all ages have played, but kids under 5 play free (as they don’t take away the same value from a hunt that their older siblings do).
Unquestionably! But any team with children under 13 years old must have 2 adults on the team or have a 1:1 ratio (a team of 2, consisting of one child, one adult). Families of 4 have often played with the parents on either team playing alongside one of their children).
Certainly! But you do end up covering a lot of ground, and often at a brisk pace (although no running is one of the 4 golden rules). For those whose energy levels aren’t at their strongest we offer hunts off the beaten track at some museums. Just see the theme descriptions for a sense of what suits.
Yes! Most smartphones have pedometer apps, like the Apple Health app (for iPhones) or the Google Fit app (for Android).
There’s the navigator/strategist, whose role is important at the beginning when you’re figuring out where to start, the lawyer-like reader who picks up on small print (don’t want to miss out on your bonus questions!) and the hawk-eyed scanner who may not be good with a map but can sift through tons to zero in on the treasure once in the right area (kids often excel at this)! The qualities of the first two are often found in the same type of person. The photographer can change per found treasure, but always use the same camera/phone (as it facilitates tallying scores afterward).
THATLou’s Beauty & Bestiary or Skull Scouting are a hit with families as well as first-time visitors to the museum, as the former includes Louvre Icons as well as getting you off the beaten track. THATBrit’s Fun + Games or Skull Scouting are family friendly themes when at the British Museum. For the V&A, our Travel Trail is popular among families as the text is abbreviated. And everyone, big and small, loves our Natural History Museum Dino hunt!
Yes, for the Paris museums, kids under 18 enter free as do EU citizens under the age of 26 (with photo ID) at all National Museums in France. For the English museums, entry is free to everyone (though there’s a recommended donation of £5).
Unfortunately not. We’re happy to take questions on the phone, but all bookings must be done through email.
A deposit is required for all private hunts, which will be paid through PayPal. We’ll send you a deposit request once we’ve finalized all of the details of your booking. The remaining balance will be paid in cash on the day of your booking.
No, we are an entirely independent company whose goal is to celebrate these great collections and make you want to extend your visit (or return!) after your hunt! We do not work for any of the museums where we've built hunts, although we have been commissioned by the AFMO (American Friends of the Musée d’Orsay) and both the British Museum and the V&A have contracted us to create and host public Friday Late events at their museums.
With pleasure! We have a vigorous corporate market, and are happy to refer you to former clients such as the Dutch Embassy, Lego, Google, Random House, Disney, Piaggio, Airbus, Pernod Ricard, etc.
Certainly! We’ve had plenty of school groups and again, we can offer references, from posh Swiss boarding schools to the Palo Alto HS, to day-schools on a budget. Likewise we’ve hosted plenty of University orientations to team-building events at business schools like HEC and Insead. However, teams with kids under 15 need 1 chaperone per team.
We work with many different agencies who offer THATMuse hunts to their clients. If your company would like to work with us, please contact us or email us at info@thatmuse.com for details.
Automated bookings are for clients who want to book & pay for a hunt without having to email with us about times, & availability. Currently we only offer automated bookings for our most popular treasure hunt: Beauty & the Bestiary-themed Classic Hunts at the Louvre. Any other hunts at any other museums must be booked by making a request through the "Request to Book a Hunt" form.
- Group Size = not fewer than 3-people, not more than 5 people
- IF your group is 6 people or larger, they can contact us OR request to book a hunt.
- Non-refundable
- Must accept friendly competition, however it’s not guaranteed (friendly competition does not cost more or less)
- Museum entry tickets are not included
- 20-minute late policy (THATMuse greeters cannot wait longer than 20 minutes, as with all classic hunts)
- Meeting Place: Bernini’s equestrian Louis XIV statue, outside IM Pei's main pyramid entrance
If you don’t opt for the automated booking, a deposit is required for all private hunts. We’ll send you a deposit request once we’ve finalized all of the details of your booking. The remaining balance will be paid in cash on the day of your booking.
As last-minute hunts (booked 3 days before for individual bookings, or less than 2 weeks for a larger-scale hunts) are much more difficult to arrange logistically, we usually charge a surcharge, though this surcharge varies depending on what type of hunt and which location you’re interested in booking.
A last-minute booking is 3 days prior to the date of the hunt for classic hunts and 2 weeks prior to the hunt for larger scale group hunts. Please note that there is a surcharge for last-minute bookings, and that this varies depending on the museum you decide to book.
