Choosing to sleep in the slammer might not be for everyone but a surprising number of former lock-ups offer the experience for travellers seeking something a little different. Blending quirky design details with fascinating history, these prisons you can stay in range from notorious, supposedly haunted spots with basic bunks and a not-so-warm welcome, to places that have been transformed into luxury hotels with only the odd barred window giving away their past.
As former prisons go, Hostel Celica bursts with a surprising amount of colour and fun. The building served as a military prison for around a century from 1882 and was saved from demolition in the 1990s by Network for Metelkova, an artists’ collective. Now it’s a stylish, art-themed hotel with paintings displayed throughout and a small museum housed in two basement cells where prisoners were once sent for solitary confinement.
It’s one of the most popular places to stay in the centre of Ljubljana, just a short walk from the train station and close to attractions like Tivoli City Park and Ljubljana Castle. There’s a mix of shared, mixed-gender dorms with shared bathrooms and private rooms, some with en suites. But the main draw is the still-tangible history, with bars across prison cell rooms that have been decorated by different artists.
This heritage building served as Old Street Magistrates' Court and police station from 1903 to 1996 before a £40 million ($52.9m) renovation saw it transformed into Courthouse Hotel. Guests can sleep in one of the lavish, marble-filled Magistrates King rooms in the original side of the building that held the court and police station. Its history is on show throughout the rest of the building too.
There’s the aptly-named Judge & Jury restaurant, set in the wood-panelled former courtroom, with tables surrounded by leather-bound law journals and memorabilia. People can also grab a drink in the cells where Ronnie and Reggie Kray were once locked up, now the Jailhouse Bar, or reserve a holding cell for a private get-together.
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Guests may sleep in a bunk and share a bathroom with fellow travellers but that’s where HI Ottawa's similarities with other hostels end. It’s housed in the old Carleton County Gaol, which served as Ottawa's maximum-security prison from 1862-1972. When the prison, which was notorious for its tiny, unsanitary cells, closed, the building was renovated and reopened as an unique place to spend the night.
The brick-walled cells have been freshened with a lick of paint and modern furnishings but still have metal bars and iron doors. There are now handles on the inside, though, so there’s no risk of being locked up for good. Regular guided tours typically take visitors around the building, rated as one of the most haunted in North America. With the gallows, where death row prisoners were hanged, soberingly on display, that reputation is perhaps unsurprising.
It’s a lavish hotel now but in its former incarnation The Liberty was known as The Charles Street Jail and housed some of Boston’s most notorious criminals within its secure walls. Previous inmates include Boston’s ex-mayor James Michael Curley, imprisoned in 1904 for fraud, and civil rights activist Malcolm X. The jail closed in 1973 after prisoners protested about the inhumane living conditions.
Nowadays Hollywood A-listers are more likely to be spotted in the corridors, with actors Meg Ryan and Eva Mendes among those to have stayed there. The building has been carefully restored to showcase original details like the 90-foot (27m) atrium at the heart of the hotel. Iron-railed balconies were once walkways where guards kept a careful eye on the prisoners and in the restaurant, Clink, people can dine next to preserved jail cells.
Thousands of prisoners passed through Fængslet from 1853-2006 but the former penitentiary has now been transformed into a mixed-use space with a museum, concert arena (in what was the prison yard) and hostel, SleepIn Fængslet, which occupies the old hospital wing. But this isn’t about 5-star luxury. Instead, it’s about intriguing, carefully-preserved details such as graffiti in the cell bedrooms, original prison radios and bars over the windows.
Today’s voluntary ‘inmates’ can sleep in two-man cells equipped with original prison beds or bunks, desks, chairs and small sinks. Bigger family rooms have an additional double bed while newlyweds looking for something very different can book the bridal suite. The decor is still minimal but the suite is larger than the other cells, with a king bed and views (through barred windows, of course) across the prison yard.
Numerous Newport felons were locked up at the Jailhouse Inn throughout the 18th and 19th centuries – and many escaped. One prisoner, a mason, is said to have escaped in 1859 by removing the bricks from around his window. More recently, the notoriously insecure building became the headquarters for the Newport Police Department before closing in 1986.
Guests will still find barred doors in the hallways and some rooms feature window grills, but the sizeable bedrooms are far from cell-like. The basement ‘Solitary Confinement’ room features a cupboard with an iron door – the original gun safe – while the 'Gang Lock Up’ suite has whitewashed arches and built-in bookcases. The seasonal inn closes for winter and is due to reopen in spring 2022.
Once used as a detention facility for small-time criminals awaiting trial, Het Arresthius (Dutch for ‘house arrest’) is now a decidedly chic boutique hotel. The original 100-plus cells have been transformed into 40 luxury rooms, while the cell doors have been carefully preserved and white bars still shield many of the windows.
Several cells have been knocked together to create ‘comfort cells’ with underfloor heating, air con and rainfall showers. Former recreation rooms have been converted into stylish ‘deluxe’ cells with exposed brick ceilings. Guests who are feeling flush can also book the prison director’s living quarters. Chandeliers, sleek white decor and a freestanding whirlpool bath make this somewhere most people would be happy to serve time.
A visit to Latvia’s Karosta Prison is a particularly sobering experience. The red-brick building was built as an infirmary but mostly used as a notorious Nazi and Soviet military jail throughout much of the 20th century. Nobody ever managed to escape and it’s believed hundreds of inmates were tragically killed here. It’s now said to be haunted, with tales of cell doors opening by themselves and steps echoing down deserted corridors.
Brave travellers can book the so-called ‘extreme’ overnight stay, which involves living like an inmate from 9pm until 9am. It’s not for the faint-hearted – visitors can expect to be lined up and issued orders before sleeping in a bunk or iron bed. All overnight guests are required to sign a disclaimer stating they’ll be put work if they’re disobedient, with punishments including physical exercise and cleaning the guardhouse.
The elegant exterior and luxurious suites at this buttercup-yellow hotel belie its past as a prison. The Neoclassical building that’s now home to the plush Four Seasons Hotel Istanbul at Sultanahmet was originally built as a jail in the early 20th century. Those incarcerated here included dissident writers and poets, a controversial humourist and a Communist leader. It closed in the late 1960s before reopening as a 5-star hotel.
Now the original hand-painted tile floors and marble pillars remain, and if you look carefully it’s possible to make out the names of former inmates carved into the stone. The exercise yard has been converted into a landscaped courtyard, while the watchtowers act as lift shafts. Staying overnight here is a very different prospect than it once was, with decadent touches like hand-woven Turkish rugs and carved bedheads.
It’s hard to believe now, but from 1724-1975 tiny Långholmen Island was home to a much-feared penal institution for women. Its latest incarnation is as a hotel and museum, with prisoners replaced by curious travellers drawn by the history and the chance to get some idea of what life was like for the inmates.
Accommodation is in cells, ranging from mixed dorms to relatively luxurious Family Cells sleeping up to four. Some still retain their barred windows but living conditions have certainly improved thanks to the addition of creature comforts like TVs, showers and cosy bedding. There’s more for breakfast than just porridge too and, perhaps most importantly, guests get to hold the keys to their cells.
The Old Mount Gambier Goal was a prison from 1866-1994, after which inmates were moved to a more modern building out of town. Its reincarnation as a stylish boutique hotel strikes the perfect balance between preserving the building's unique history and making sure guests are willing to surrender to an overnight stay. Inside the building, surrounded by 15-foot (4.6m) tall perimeter walls, is a mix of private rooms in ex-prison cells and family accommodation in former offices, medical rooms and even the original kitchen.
Bedrooms are accessed through the original 1970s cell doors, which make a satisfying thud as they close. Guests will, however, be given their own keys to come and go as they please and also have use of a private toilet and sink, although shower facilities are shared. The common areas, including a lounge in the old chapel and a kitchen that was a day room for prisoners, retain much of their original character too.
Those who really want to immerse themselves in prison life can even request a pair of striped pyjamas when staying overnight at ALCATRAZ Hotel, a jail from 1867-2002. Rooms are a mix of suites and ex-prison cells, and guests sleeping in the latter can peer from iron window grills and choose to have breakfast served through the tiny hatches in the original metal doors.
Cells are basic and small, although the beds – made by former prisoners – are comfortable and, of course, it’s all a choice. Each has a toilet and sink, and access to shared shower blocks. Adding to the fun is Hinter Gittern Bar (German for ‘behind bars’), where voluntary inmates can order a nightcap before lights out.
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Hotel Katajanokka’s high perimeter walls are suitably imposing for a former prison, although the interior couldn't be more of a contrast. Originally a county prison and pre-trial detention centre, the jail called time in 2002 and reopened as a Marriott property in 2007. The open central corridor has been carefully preserved while stylish, high-ceilinged bedrooms occupy the original cell blocks, complete with ultra-thick walls.
A fair amount has changed since the building’s days as a prison. The addition of plush beds, cosy textiles and wall art, for example, plus a restaurant – Ravintola Linnankellari – serving Finnish-Scandi cuisine with a seasonal focus. We imagine that room service was pretty limited back in the day too, and even the most favoured inmate probably didn’t have a sauna in their suite.
Q Station isn’t a former prison exactly but this detainment centre certainly qualifies as notorious. Operating as North Head Quarantine Station from 1832-1984, this is where many of the earliest immigrants were detained upon arrival. Having travelled for months via ship to reach the harbour in the Sydney suburb of Manly, anyone suspected of having any contact with diseases such as Spanish flu, smallpox or the bubonic plague had to stay here until they were deemed clear of infection.
Today it’s a place where people choose to stay. The buildings, set within Sydney Harbour National Park, and interior layout have been largely untouched but the rooms themselves are cosy and chic, with neutral colours and plush beds. Luxurious options include suites and three-bedroom Officers’ Cottages (pictured). The past lingers in more ways than one, though, as the site – with a burial ground nearby – is said to be one of Australia’s most haunted locations. The hotel usually runs ghost and history tours too.
When Oxford Prison closed its gates to criminals in 1996 it was converted into luxury boutique hotel Malmaison Oxford. The beautiful accommodation not only allows guests to sleep in old prison cells, they get to do so within the medieval castle that contained the jail too. The hotel’s rooms are largely made up of cells in what used to be the prison’s A-wing, with the heavy metal doors and vaulted ceilings still intact.
The cells, which once housed up to three inmates in each one, have been knocked together to create en suites and thick walls mean they feel wonderfully secluded and private, with no noise from outside. Unlike those who used to stay here, visitors today can also enjoy dreamily cosy beds, powerful showers, flat-screen TVs and, in some suites, freestanding baths and views of the castle.
Life was pretty grim for those imprisoned in Bodmin Jail, built in 1779 during the reign of King George III. Cells were cold, damp and often squalid, with little light trickling through tiny barred windows. Days were characterised by hard labour and less than appetising food, and around 60 prisoners were executed here. Visitors to what’s now an immersive experience and hotel can still see the Victorian execution shed with its 14-foot (4.3m) deep hanging pit.
It’s a sobering experience in some ways, as well as a fascinating and – for those staying overnight – a rather luxurious one. The Bodmin Jail Hotel opened in February 2021 following significant renovation of two prison wings, with three cells knocked together to create each sumptuously and stylishly-decorated bedroom. There are (possibly) a few non-paying guests too, as the prison is said to be haunted by the spirit of Selina Wadge, who was condemned to death in 1900 for murdering her son.
Opened earlier this year, this charming family-run hotel was once a much less accommodating place to visit. The former prison dates back to 1896 and has a history of detaining resistance fighters during the Second World War. Closed in the 1980s, the building was largely forgotten before it was transformed into the luxury hotel. Wilmina Hotel offers 44 beautiful rooms, the smallest being a 118-square-foot (11sqm) former cell (pictured), while the prisoner assembly loft has been transformed into the gorgeous Garden Loft.
The hotel's owners were careful to retain some of the original features while some areas of the building were converted and reconfigured to suit its role as a hotel. The prison cell wing (pictured) boasts a light and airy atrium while the original cell doors have been reused and restored to match the sleek, modern interior. What's special about this hotel is that each room is unlike another. Wilmina also offers its guests a restaurant tucked away in a manicured garden courtyard.