Go to jail

Notorious slammers turned into luxurious hotels

BEHIND BARS Vestiges of original jail cells create cozy nooks for dining at the Liberty Hotel’s elegant restaurant–aptly named Clink.

If a night in jail is on your bucket list, well, that’s just weird, but thanks to a trend of converting old jails and prisons into upscale boutique-like hotels, you can still have a good story about a night behind bars—with no inconvenient criminal activity required.

The Charles Street Jail in Boston opened in 1851 and housed plenty of well-known criminals, including the Boston Strangler. Time passed and the building became too old and outdated to use as a jail—but also too old and historic to raze. Such buildings often become a financial drain on cities, which are happy to sell them off. Clever developers turned the jail into the Liberty Hotel, which opened in 2007 and boasts 80% occupancy rates, according to The Washington Post.

These transformed prisons are all over the world, including the former Ottoman prison in Istanbul, Turkey—a memorable location for scenes from the 1978 movie Midnight Express—which is now a Four Seasons hotel. Instead of the stone slabs used by prisoners a century ago, guests now enjoy down pillows on king-size beds, along with every conceivable amenity.