Althouse: "Notorious prison is transformed into luxury hotel (and guests still sleep in the cells)."

February 25, 2013

"Notorious prison is transformed into luxury hotel (and guests still sleep in the cells)."

In the Netherlands.

Nice repurposing! I like it.

20 comments:

Unknown said...: That bathroom doesn't look all that elegant to me. I'd like one like that in my house though. It looks like it could be cleaned with a high pressure hose.; 2/25/13, 7:02 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @wyo sis,

That bathroom doesn't look all that elegant to me.

In the hotel brochure, guests are cautioned to not bend over to pick up the soap if one drops it in the shower.; 2/25/13, 7:07 PM
Emil Blatz said...: I wonder how the fire code handles the bars on the windows.; 2/25/13, 7:08 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: The rooms seem nice.. cold and modern, but nice. The main hall is a little creepy.; 2/25/13, 7:17 PM
ricpic said...: Guest: We'd like the really authentic prison experience.

Concierge: For that we have a few choice rooms with the crapper next to the bed.

Guest: We'll take one.

Concierge: You do understand there is a surcharge for the privilege?

Guest: But of course. What do you take us for, fools?; 2/25/13, 7:18 PM
Anonymous said...: He is allowed Ikea furniture but not the little turn wrench. Camus.; 2/25/13, 7:40 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: IF they did this with Alcatraz, it would make a fortune.

Long ago, I went to a bar in Dublin that was a converted nunnery. The upstairs was the open area of the chapel and downstairs each of the nun's cells had been turned into cozy drinking booths, with padded benches and a central table. Neon lights, drugs and rock music (this was 1969 Sitting and drinking in what was a solitary room for a dedicated nun. It was pretty sacrilegious and disrespectful, but.....I think that was the point.

Kind of the same titillating sensation of being in a famous prison, I suppose.; 2/25/13, 7:41 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Shove Obama and Carney in there and change it back into a real prision.

Quick.; 2/25/13, 7:53 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: prison...; 2/25/13, 7:53 PM
edutcher said...: Still looks like Stir to me.

I'd be looking for Bogie and Edward G all the time.; 2/25/13, 7:54 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: IF they did this with Alcatraz, it would make a fortune.

I don't know why but... Alcatraz read Auschwitz in my head.; 2/25/13, 7:57 PM
edutcher said...: You could live through the Rock.; 2/25/13, 8:35 PM
Chip S. said...: I think the gov't should license a hotel/casino operation on Alcatraz.; 2/25/13, 8:39 PM
Wince said...: Boston's notorious Charles Street Jail was converted to the Liberty Hotel.

More photos.; 2/25/13, 9:18 PM
Basta! said...: In the 90s they turned the notorious Charles St. jail (http://tinyurl.com/37hvcma) in Boston into a luxury hotel.

It's an impressive granite building overlooking the Charles River. It's kind of funny that at one time it didn't bother anyone to allocate such a *prime* location to neer-do-wells. Who've since been relocated to an ungodly modern construction in a wasteland at the intersection of a highway and some on-ramps, that's much harder for visitors to get to.; 2/25/13, 9:20 PM
Basta! said...: EDH
oops, just missed your post; 2/25/13, 9:20 PM
ampersand said...: So, what's so notorious about the place?; 2/25/13, 11:43 PM
Basta! said...: I think people tend to append the word "notorious" to the former jail for several reasons.

Its prisoners (from Wiki): "Over the years, the jail has housed a number of famous inmates including James Michael Curley, Malcolm X, Sacco and Vanzetti, suffragists imprisoned for protests when President Woodrow Wilson visited Boston in 1919, and World War II prisoners of war from the German submarines U-234 and U-873. The commanding officer of the latter U-boat, who died in the jail, was the brother of Operation Paperclip rocket scientist Ernst Steinhoff."

It's an imposing structure at the foot of Beacon Hill, abutting Mass General Hospital, almost on the banks of the Charles River, which is a very swanky area, so it stands out. Even moreso because it was surrounded by a high brick wall and barbed wire. It housed people awaiting trial as well as some after they were convicted, and also served as the city's drunk tank. I believe there were serious prisoner riots there in the 70s.

Here's a good short piece about how wretched the conditions had become over time inside the place (http://tinyurl.com/bzr9odl) I hadn't been aware of this, but early in its history they carried out a number of capital executions (hanging) in its courtyard. A fed judge finally ordered it shut down as (he said) just being locked up there constituted cruel and unusual punishment.; 2/26/13, 1:17 AM
Peter said...: The essence of an amusement park ride is the illusion of danger. Without (of course) any real danger.

Presumably this faux prison experience is a similar concept.

Although I’d guess that each of those holding-cell hotel rooms once held as many as a dozen prisoners.; 2/26/13, 8:53 AM
Anonymous said...: Thanks for sharing a great stuff. I really like the information you've included in your above post. Now I'm going to bookmark your website to get more update news about luxurious hotels.
Hotel Deals in USA; 5/7/13, 3:48 AM