Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE NEW SERIES of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black seems to be going down quite well and people are already looking forward to what might be ahead in Season 4 as we have been left with some great cliff-hangers.
Though the show can be dark and gritty at times, it has also served to somewhat glamorise prison life and a number of hotels across the world have capitalised on the general fascination with prison life that we humans seem to have developed over the centuries.
If you ever found yourself thinking you would not mind a night in a cell but don’t want to have to commit a heinous crime in order to do so, you might want to add a couple of these to your list of future holiday destinations.
Located in the picturesque Dutch town of Roermond and close to the German border, the hotel’s building originally served as a house of detention and later a state prison. It opened as a hotel in 2011. Though many features of the prison – including the bars on the windows – have been retained, its décor still has a modern feel.
Guests have a choice between comfort cells, made up of three former prison cells and deluxe cells, which are housed in former recreation rooms.
Even closer to home is this Oxford hotel which is part of a Grade 1 listed medieval castel. The prison closed in 1996 and was transformed into a boutique hotel incorporating the castle walls and many features of the prison.
It has 95 rooms in total. The large cells boast facilities that none of the inmates would have ever experienced, like power showers, mood lighting and 24 hour room service.
Though it looks fairly grim from the outside, the hotel in Stockholm has been transformed into a modern hotel, hostel, conference centre, restaurant and prison museum.
It operated as a prison between 1725 and 1975 and was one of the largest in Sweden, with over 500 cells.
Guests can either visit the prison during the day to see how former inmates lived or stay in one of their converted cells.
The former Charles Street Jail in Boston was built in 1851 and housed inmates such as Malcolm X and World War II prisoners of war.
Today it is a modern luxury hotel with six bars (the kind with alcohol, not the kind on the windows) and restaurants.
The rooms are huge – a far cry from the 80 square feet of the original cells back in the day.
Previously Helsinki County Prison, serving pre-trial criminals between 1837 and 2002, this is another hotel that doesn’t look like much from the outside.
However extensive renovations, reportedly costing €15 million were undertaken to rework the building in keeping with historic building guidelines.
Sets of two or three cells were combined to create larger rooms and the restaurant boasts a prison theme, with exposed brick walls, barred windows and medieval-style chairs.
If you’re looking for extreme luxury within a prison structure, this is the place. The Istanbul hotel is found in a century-old neoclassical prison in the old city.
It operated between 1919 and 1969 and was used to house inmates who were awaiting trial or serving brief sentences as it was adjacent to the courthouse.
The rooms are huge and bear no resemblance to the old cells with private bars, large plasma televisions and marble bathrooms.
From its rooftop lounge, while sipping wine, you can enjoy views of wellknown landmarks like the Haghia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
All houses already come with a built-in app to check if there’s a power outage in your area… its called a light switch. :-)
Couldn’t that just mean your trip has tripped?
..Then simply get a chair from the kitchen and get up and check! :D
What is the definition of a shock absorber? A: A careless electrician.
I’ll get my coat.
Just because the power to your house is gone doesn’t necessarily mean there is a power outage in your area. It could be a fault in your own electrical installation or it could be that the ESB main fuse has blown. So, no … the light switch is not “a built-in app”.
I hate when your in the middle of typing something and the pow
Are released?
Waterford also had a power outage…
Non story.
Where the hell is Waterford?
@Sean
That’s a bit harsh, just because a town/city is outside the capital doesn’t make it any less important, if that’s what you’re implying.
A bit of balance would be great. Pretty much a third of the city was out this morning. Big deal in my book
Where’s Daltry?!
That would be Dartry… have fixed the error!
I was thinking :-P
Roger Daltry from the who, he passed out powerless last night
Whatever happened to ‘power cut’ ?
Who decided it was to be called by the American version ‘outage’
The technical term in the power systems industry is ‘outage’.
@Catriona
Interesting, and you sound like you know what you are talking about.
How do you know this ?
When did it change in Ireland ?
Ballsbridge was in the dark this morning? There must be a wise-crack about that….!
I note one of the the dialogue boxes on the Powercheck website says: “Service Interruption Message:
We apologise for the loss of supply. We are currently working to repair a fault affecting your premise and will restore power as quickly as possible.”
I’m afraid someone in ESB Networks doesn’t know the difference between “premise” and “premises”.
Premise: A previous statement or proposition from which another is inferred or follows as a conclusion.
Premises: A house or a building.
Is the website up and running? Just tried checking the page and it doesn’t seem to load properly.
It should be fixed now if you try it again
Just tried it again… accessed it differently and it works fine.
You can always trust the ESB to deal with current events.
Must be a slow news day!!! The rest of Ireland could have no power but the poor dubs have to have a story loike!
In a word, SO!!
Bleedin frankenstorm.
Power was off in Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 for three hours last night.
Power outage for approx 3 hours in parts of Greystones this morning also.
Power, we have know water since yesterday evening :-( Glasanaon road, D 11
have your say