October 1, 2026, 5:25 pm | Read time: 6 minutes
Would you like to spend a night in jail? Experience what it’s like to sleep in a tiny cell on an uncomfortable cot behind bars? If so, you can do just that–without robbing a bank or committing any other crime. Around the world, there are prison hotels that offer almost authentic behind-bars experiences. We present nine exciting accommodations, two of which are in Germany.
Hotel Liberty, Offenburg
The massive walls, heavy cell doors, and bars on some windows still hint at the original purpose of the roughly 200-year-old brick building. For a long time, vacation and relaxation were unthinkable here. Between 1845 and 2009, the building served as Offenburg’s prison. In the early years, resistance fighters and political prisoners were also held here.
Focusing on the building’s history, the former prison was carefully transformed into the stylish Hotel Liberty. Today, it promotes its philosophy of freedom, which the name symbolizes. They do not hide the fact that Baden revolutionaries, socialist free thinkers, victims of the Nazi regime, and later detainees like Schäuble attacker Dieter Kaufmann were imprisoned here. They recount all this in a text about the prison building’s history. High-quality furnishings and a modern glass cube have turned the once oppressive place into an extraordinary luxury domicile.
Wilmina, Berlin
In Berlin, the Wilmina also opened as a prison hotel in 2022. The stylish hotel is housed in the former women’s prison at Kantstraße 79 in Charlottenburg. The project was undertaken by architects Armand Grüntuch and Almut Grüntuch-Ernst. During the Nazi era, regime opponents were held here. From 1939, the prisoners were exclusively women, assigned by the Gestapo to the so-called “Red Orchestra.” Among them were women like Libertas Schulze-Boysen, Melitta Gräfin von Stauffenberg, and Mildred Harnack.
After the war, the prison building was used as a juvenile detention center and until 2010 as an archive for the Kammergericht. It then stood empty, occasionally used for film shoots like “The Reader” (2009). In the front building, Canadian lighting designer Bocci has set up his new headquarters–with numerous futuristic light installations that illuminate the former courthouse.
Karosta, Liepāja (Latvia)
Who wouldn’t want to be woken up at night, dragged barefoot out of bed, and commanded into the hallway where some guy in a uniform yells at you with seemingly too many decibels? Not you? But others do. And they voluntarily book a stay at the former military prison Karosta in Liepāja, Latvia. It was once a Nazi and Soviet prison. Today, it is open to visitors both during the day and for overnight stays.
Those who wish to spend the night at Karosta pay from 15 euros. Additionally, you sign a consent form for all the unpleasant experiences that await there–be they living tormentors or dead ones. Not only do visitors spend the night in a prison atmosphere, but Karosta is also said to be haunted. Restless souls who were once tormented here are said to open doors or make light bulbs flicker at night. Well then, good night.
Four Seasons Istanbul at Sultanahmet, Istanbul (Turkey)
The luxurious “Four Seasons Istanbul at Sultanahmet” in Turkey was also once a prison. The political prisoners and artists who were locked away here remain unmentioned. Instead, the Four Seasons advertises that guests can stay in a Turkish prison converted into a luxurious living space. With its dramatic domes and towers, it is described as an “example of Turkish neoclassical architecture.”
Unitas Hotel, Prague (Czech Republic)
The operators of this respectfully repurposed prison hotel also tell the history of their house: the Unitas Hotel in Prague, Czech Republic. Once a Jesuit and then a nunnery, the sisters living here were eventually raided and transported by the state security. The main center of the Stasi was then established in the former monastery. During the years of communist rule, political prisoners were interrogated and tortured here, including the future president of Czechoslovakia, Václav Havel. After the end of socialist rule, it became a monastery again with an initial pension, and the building was finally fully renovated and reopened as a four-star hotel.
Malmaison, Oxford (England)
The Malmaison in Oxford boasts that it is “better than your average prison.” Guests walk through a multi-story prison layout, with cells side by side and stacked. Today’s prison hotel is part of the former Oxford Castle. Its remnants were converted into a city prison in the 18th century after its destruction in the English Civil War, and it was used as such until 1996. And of course, as it could not be otherwise, Malmaison is also said to be haunted. Among other things, the ghost of Mary Blandy, who was hanged here in 1752 for poisoning her father, is said to be felt and seen.
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Courthouse Hotel Shoreditch, London (England)
The Courthouse Hotel Shoreditch in London’s East End particularly celebrates its famous former inmates. Once a magistrate’s court with a police station, criminal celebrities like the Kray twins were imprisoned here. They were gangsters who controlled organized crime in the East End during the 1950s and 1960s. They also maintained contacts with celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and high-ranking politicians of their time. Author George Orwell was also once held here. And right across the street is the town hall where Jack the Ripper’s last victim was autopsied.
Hotel guests can sit in the Jailhouse Bar in the small, renovated cells of the former police station and toast with a Kray portrait. They stay in much larger rooms and suites with names like “Magistrate King” or “Xscape King” and can enjoy the pool, cinema, or bowling alley.
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Långholmen, Stockholm (Sweden)
Other prison hotels play a bit more subtly with their original purpose. Such is the case with Långholmen on the island of the same name in Stockholm, Sweden. For 250 years, the building was a prison, founded as a women’s penal institution in 1724 and later expanded. As early as 1989, the former prison was converted into a hotel and hostel with conference rooms. Today, the hotel invites guests to eat, stay, and work in a quiet and safe atmosphere. The original prison structure still stands, and guests are allowed to play “Escape” and “Prisoner for a Day” together.
Jail Hill Inn, Illinois (USA)
At the Jail Hill Inn in the U.S. state of Illinois, only the hotel name and some inmate names carved here and there remind of the former county jail. Today’s guests are invited to stay in spacious suites, enjoy their morning coffee in the common areas, or relax there with evening wine and cheese.