We visited HARIBO’s wild Unicorn-i-licious Treat Retreat for National Unicorn Day

“Do you want to go to a unicorn-themed gummi candy apartment?”

That’s how I framed up an invite for my whole family to go visit HARIBO’s Unicorn-i-licious Treat Retreat, a 1,800 square foot apartment in New York City themed around the brand’s new Unicorn-i-licious gummies, in honor of today’s National Unicorn Day. And frankly, I was underselling it.

Based in the trendy Soho district of Manhattan, the apartment, which is available for booking later today (more on that in a second), is behind a nondescript door off Broadway. If you didn’t know you were heading to a HARIBO gummi apartment, well, you wouldn’t know based on the outside of the building. And that’s sort of the idea: after heading up two steep flights of stairs, behind a red, locked door is one of the wildest apartments I’ve ever visited in New York; and I’ve been in one where the toilet was in the kitchen.

Why is this happening, you may ask? Two reasons. First, it’s National Unicorn Day today, April 9. Second, HARIBO just released Unicorn-i-licious, the first time the brand has released a unicorn shape, and also the first time both the cotton candy and tangerine flavors have been released in the US. The packages, which are now on sale in stores everywhere, also include blue raspberry, apple, berry punch, and banana flavors.

Thanks to HARIBO, I was able to test the new gummies with the whole fam. My son’s favorite was the blue raspberry (“You could have predicted this,” the 9-year-old blue raspberry lover told me, prefacing his review), while my wife overall thought the unicorn shape was “a little too large” but still tasty.

BUT ALLOW ME TO WEIGH IN, I AM THE EXPERT HERE. Ahem. One of the reasons I would venture HARIBO has continued to dominate the gummi market and conversation is their light touch with flavor, and that continues with the Unicorn-i-licious gummies. They are neither too aggressively flavored nor at the level of what I would call “flavor scented” that you get with other gummies. Overall, I found this to be a solid bunch. Of the six flavors, banana is easily the most intense, and surprisingly so. If you’re a fan of banana Runts (I am) and other candy of the like, you’ll enjoy this, too. If you’re not a fanana, stay away.

The cotton candy, blue raspberry, and berry punch were all more in line with what I’d expect from HARIBO and were all solid. I could snack on any of them all day without getting overwhelmed with the flavor. But the nicest surprises were the apple and tangerine. I’ll admit that apple is one of my favorite candy flavors, so I was already in the tank here. And this is a very, very good apple candy. The tangerine is the overall winner, though. Pleasantly citrusy and tangy, I’m glad this made its way to the good ol’ US of A.

But you’re not here for my thoughts on candy (unless you are): you want to know about the apartment.

Decked out on every surface with unicorns, and either a bag or canister full of HARIBO Unicorn-i-licious treats always within reach, the “Treat Retreat” is a rainbow fever dream sure to make any Instagram junkie/influencer pant with anticipation.

Upon walking in, you’re immediately presented with a dinner table big enough for six – though the apartment only sleeps four. Guess you’ll have to invite two friends over for the rainbow cake gushing sprinkles in the center of the table. Behind the table is an array of unicorn lights, and hanging from the ceiling, puffy clouds lighting up the whole room.

Directly on the left of the dining room, through a pair of French doors, is the master bedroom, with a comfy, pink, fuzzy cover on the bed, HARIBO pillows, shiny purple drapes everywhere, and as mentioned a canister of HARIBO gummies on each nightstand so you can pop a few before bed. I will mention, I did not find this a big deal, but my 9-year-old who otherwise thought the apartment was “amazing” had only one criticism: there’s no TV in the master bedroom. I thought that was okay, he did not. We’ll just agree to disagree.

Moving on to the kitchen, it’s fully stocked with an array of HARIBO candy, including the Unicorn-i-licious bags, as well as the classic Goldbears, Sour Goldbears, and Starmix. There wasn’t any other food in the fridge, but you’re only going to be eating HARIBO for several days if you stay here, so don’t worry about it.

The stealth runner-up of the whole set-up, though, was the bathroom just past the laundry area, off the kitchen. Featuring unicorn rubber duckies, a unicorn-horned wastebasket, and a unicorn-head shower, the only thing that wasn’t themed was the toilet and toilet paper. Best of all: neither was in the kitchen!

Back to the dining room, though, as you head down the hall past various reversible sequin flip “paintings,” you’ll find yourself in the massive living room that is probably as big as my entire actual New York apartment. We’ll get to that in a second, but off the living room is the second bedroom, which has a tented bunk bed for the kids, and much to the pleasure of my youngest child, a television. And gummies, of course. So many gummies.

Even better, though, the dresser is stocked with all the supplies you need to turn the apartment into a pillow fort, which is an awesome activity for when you get bored (???) of the unicorn gummi candy house you’re sleeping in.

Okay, living room time. This is packed all over the walls with tons of unicorn and HARIBO wall art, a full-size unicorn sculpture for you to take a picture with, and enormous couches to lounge on. Oh, and also a ball pit filled with hundreds of stuffed unicorns. Did my children head immediately there and spend their entire time jumping in and climbing out of the ball pit? Absolutely. Did they ever leave that ball pit? Unclear. Call me please, HARIBO.

The whole thing is absolutely bananas (not to be confused with the Unicorn-i-licious flavor), and other than for media folks such as myself, is actually being opened today to the public on an extremely limited basis, to actually sleep in. Here’s the deal, via HARIBO:

“Free two-night stays at the HARIBO Unicorn-i-licious Treat Retreat will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis beginning at 12 p.m. ET on Tues., April 9 on haribotreatretreat.com. 

Groups of up to four people can book the 2-bedroom, 1,800 square-foot loft for the following dates:

• Sunday, April 10 through Tuesday, April 12
• Wednesday, April 13 through Friday, April 15
• Saturday, April 16 through Monday, April 18”

Look, even beyond the wealth of Instagram fodder you’ll get out of staying here, the candy coma from non-stop HARIBO, and the – I guess – family memories you’ll have after building forts together and jumping in ball pits, this is a gigantic apartment right in the center of Manhattan, with easy access to shopping and delicious restaurants. If you decide you want to go outside at any point, there’s no better place to stay in New York.

Granted, you can probably figure out that only three groups of four will get to stay in this apartment, and that’s a shame. If you’re not one of the lucky few, you can console yourself by supping on HARIBO Unicorn-i-licious gummies today in honor of National Unicorn Day. Those are available pretty much everywhere.