Liberty Hotel (Charles Street Jail, Boston)

Liberty Hotel For nearly 150 years, the tall granite building at 215 Charles Street was known as the Charles Street Jail and housed some of Boston’s most heinous criminals. In 2007, after a painstaking restoration that preserved elements of the prison design, it reopened as the Liberty Hotel. The result is stunning, with 298 rooms, a 90-foot-tall atrium, winding catwalks, and high, circular windows that flood the lobby with light.

Alcatraz, San Francisco

Probably the most famous former prison is Alcatraz, located on a 22 acre island just across the bay from San Francisco. Established in 1934, the small island served as a lighthouse, a military fort and a military and federal prison until 1963. Alcatraz became a national recreation area in 1972, and today it is a museum. The entire complex is open for tours and is easily reachable via ferry from Pier 33 at Fisherman’s Wharf.

Malmaison Hotel (Oxford Jail, England)

Oxford Prison Hotel is set within the recently redeveloped Oxford Castle complex. The complex was opened in 2006 after being awarded a £3.8 million grant from the National Lottery Heritage fund to pay for the extensive restoration work. Oxford Castle, a classic motte and bailey castle, is one of the countries oldest castles dating back to 1071, being an active prison until 1996. The redevelopment has carefully persevered the original features, utilizing them in the hotel, yet at the same time making it accessible for everyone to enjoy and share.

Bargello Museum (Bargello Jail, Italy)

The Bargello, also known as the Bargello Palace or Palazzo del Popolo (Palace of the People) is a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence, Italy. One of the top museums in Florence, the Bargello Museum is a premier sculpture gallery for Renaissance art. Built in 1255, this turreted fortress is a recognizable structure in a city full of memorable buildings. And, throughout its existence, the Bargello has had many uses, including as the mayor’s office, a prison, and a courtroom. The Bargello began its life as a museum in 1859.

Alcatraz Hotel (Alcatraz Prison, Germany)

Alcatraz Hotel is a converted prison, offering both cell-style and conventional rooms. It is located near the Japanese Garden in Kaiserslautern , at the edge of the Pfälzer Wald forest. Dating from 1867, the Alcatraz Hotel is Germany’s first prison-hotel. In the cell-style rooms, guests can taste a little bit of prison life via barred windows, original prison beds, and even a washbasin and toilet in the room. Breakfast can be served through the hatch of the original prison door if you wish. However, the cell-rooms of the Alcatraz Hotel are not without modern comforts, and each includes free wireless internet access. Those who prefer more conventional comforts may prefer the hotel rooms or suites.

Karosta Hostel (Karosta Prison, Latvia)

This is the only military prison open to tourism in Europe. It was open as a prison for most part of 20 century but now it has been slightly changed into a museum for people that enjoy of this kind of attractions, but this is not a common museum because this museum offers shows and… accommodation. But the greatness of this place is that it offers tours around the museum, accommodation and special activities around their dark cells… and the employess of this place will take care in recreation of all aspects of the live inside. There are some activities less related with a prison and more related with the army. It’s possible to expend 24 hours in a military training ground, where you will live, sleep and eat as the army did in 20th century for a full day, you’ll have to run, to creep, to explore catacombs using a torch, wear gas mask… and other funny things.

Four Seasons Hotel at Sultanahmet (Sultanahmet Jail)

Sultanahmet Jail, a former prison in Istanbul, Turkey, is now the luxury Four Seasons Hotel at Sultanahmet. It is located in Sultanahmet neighborhood of Eminönü district on the historical peninsula. Built in 1918/1919, it was the first jailhouse in the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Sultanahmet Jail served mostly as a prison reserved for writers, journalists, artists as intellectual dissidents sentenced. Nowadays, the former exercise yard is a pleasant courtyard set behind a handsome ocher facade, and any sadistic guards have been supplanted by a well-trained, obliging staff. Probably the only Four Seasons in a prison, and one of the smallest in the chain, but there’s nothing confining about this 65-room hotel very handily midway between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

Langholmen Hotel (Langholmen Prison, Sweden)

Langholmen Hotel was once a prison. The hotel is housed in the old Crown Prison, which was built in the early 19th century. In the middle of the building is the attractive gallery dating from 1866. This has given us the hotel’s beautiful, open atrium. The cells are now pleasingly and functionally furnished and staying in a cell is now a captivating experience.