These unusual hotels allow you to spend the night in former prisons

Three convicts tried to escape Alcatraz on June 12, 1962.

After 60 years, we’re looking at the prisons throughout the world where you’ll nearly beg to serve time.

These prison cells have now been converted into hotels, ranging from five-star hotels to backpacker hostels.

Then it’s not such an awful place to be imprisoned, is it?

However, if you want to live life as a prisoner (without the crime), one Latvian hotel will provide you with the whole inmate experience.

Let’s hope they don’t throw the key away.

Het Arresthuis Roermond, Netherlands

At Het Arresthuis (‘house of imprisonment,’ a former jail established in 1858), expect authentic features like bars on the windows and portraits of mystery figures dressed in prison garb.

It was originally intended to house minor offenders, but between 2002 and 2007, it was exclusively used as a prison for drug smugglers.

The Jailer Suite features a royal blue color scheme that was inspired by the color of the jailer’s cap discovered during the prison’s reconstruction.

Fremantle Prison YHA, Western Australia

We’ve all heard horror stories about backpacker hostels that resemble jails, but this one does, which is why it’s Fremantle’s most popular cheap hangout.

It was built in the 1850s to hold Australia’s most notorious female prisoners, and information boards on the walls tell you all about their exploits.

Guests sleep in the (quite spacious) cells, which have plenty of historic architecture.

Karosta Prison Liepāja, Latvia

Try Karosta Prison for the genuine stuff. Visitors can sign up for guided tours and sleepovers at this old military prison.

You’ll be treated like a former inmate during these horrific overnight visits, which is why you’ll have to sign a disclaimer first.

Expect interrogations, threadbare bedding, and a night in a cold, damp cell covered in prior inmates’ graffiti. Fun!

The Liberty, Boston, USA

For many people, the presence of allusions to the past makes a night in a former prison appealing.

And there’s enough of stuff at The Liberty, whether it’s the steel catwalks in the lobby, cell-phone key displays, or the opportunity to run a few laps around the former exercise yard, which has been transformed as a lovely courtyard.

The Charles Street Jail, which was completed in 1851 and housed inmates such as Malcolm X, was a cooperation between architect Gridley James Fox Bryant and prison reformer Rev Louis Dwight, who believed that an abundance of natural light was crucial to reform.

The soaring atrium, with its wide expanses of Boston granite and historic stained glass – and what may be America’s most spectacular lobby bar – is the building’s crowning beauty

Four Seasons Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey

This renovated prison, which was built in 1918, has been restored into one of Istanbul’s most stunning hotels.

It’s impossible to know what former convicts thought of the lovely courtyard, which was originally a barren workout yard, and the herb-filled gardens.

Don’t miss the roof terrace, where you may take in city views and plan trips to the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara.

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