In pictures: hotels that used to be prisons

LIBERTY HOTEL, Boston: Malcolm X and the infamous anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti stayed more than a few nights when this Starwood Luxury Collection hotel was the Charles Street Jail (aka the Suffolk County Jail). Built in the mid-19th century in cruciform style, in accordance with humanitarian values of the time (to fill the building with natural light), the Liberty is probably more comfortable today. It’s still a pretty formidable place, with its heavy Romanesque and Renaissance influences, but now its 298 rooms come outfitted with Molton Brown bath products, martini sets and four-fixture bathrooms. The property offers jailhouse tours, where helpful guides will point out the preserved jail cells in the restaurant and the original ironwork on the windows. (Photo: courtesy of Liberty Hotel)

FOUR SEASONS ISTANBUL, SULTANAHMET, Istanbul: Built in 1918 in Turkish Neoclassical style, the building this luxury hotel now occupies was the city’s first jailhouse. The watchtowers were converted to elevator banks, and the pretty courtyard (the location of the hotel’s Seasons restaurant) previously did time as the prison exercise yard. The property, unique for the chain due to its boutique style (only 65 rooms), was designated for short-stay prisoners. Today, the hotel’s proximity to Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and the Spice Market will certainly entice guests to stick around longer. (Photo: Sibel Benli)

MALMAISON, Oxford, UK: “You’re going to the slammer in style,” boasts this hotel’s website, and indeed, the Oxford Castle (as it was known in medieval times) has a scary façade, exposed ductwork and iron railings. But the lobby’s plush banquettes and Malbar’s recessed mood lighting neatly complement the joint. The site’s long history as a prison dates back to the 14th century (the moat is long gone, but there’s still a crypt chapel). The Malmaison’s 95 rooms and suites retain just enough of this former prison’s sparseness to seem edgy, but you’ll luxuriate with your honey in the House of Correction Double room. (Photo: Douglas Neiner / Flickr)

OTTAWA JAIL HOSTEL, Ontario, Canada: This prison, aka the Nicholas Street Gaol, has a past that nightmares are made of: death row, gallows, unmarked graves. And the owners, Hostelling International, haven’t indulged in jailhouse chic. The walls are still brick, and the metal bunk beds look like prison issue. But it’s a festive place for folks of a certain age (kids), with live music in Mugshots pub and lots of freebies: Internet, tours, breakfast, the occasional ghost. Don’t get too excited, though—the inmates got all that for free, too, until the jail shut down in 1972. (Photo: Bonnie Dean / Flickr)

OLD MOUNT GAMBLER GAOL, South Australia: It’s more than a little kitsch, with the staff—the warden, matron and inmates—wearing the not-so-latest in prison wear at this backpacker haven. Former prison cells have been converted into a 45-person dorm room, plus doubles and family rooms. The correctional facility had a long run (1866-1995), and it won’t give up its history easily: There are communal kitchens (shared refrigerators) and communal bathrooms—as well as some rooms with in-suite loos. (Photo: Alpha / Flickr)

LLOYD HOTEL, Amsterdam: When the building opened in 1920, it wasn’t intended as a prison but as a way station for emigrants to the Netherlands. During World War II, the occupying Germans turned it into a detention center—a role it assumed, for varying populations, for decades. Today, the hotel contains a wildly eclectic mix of one- to five-star rooms: the former feature raised beds with storage beneath, the latter are equipped with idiosyncratic touches such as swings suspended from the rafters. The property showcases the best in modern (and whimsical) Dutch design. (Photo: Yamandu Roos)