Fancy spending a night behind bars (not the type where aspiring songwriters hang out)? A former prison in the western city of Kaiserslautern, Germany has turned itself into “Alcatraz Hotel”, offering guests a jailhouse feeling, complete with barbed wire along the walls and barred windows that make it look impossible to either enter or leave the building.
The hotel, managed by Andreas Kisch who bought the former prison with an associate, opened its door in May 2007 to people “who want to get a feeling for life in prison“. Inmates (or rather, hotel guests) get striped pyjamas, complete with their embroidered name. They can also order the prison breakfast, comprising a small jar of jam, a cup of black coffee and a piece of pumpernickel bread.
If you have the urge to sleep next to a toilet bowl and have 50 euros to burn (for one night), consider surrending yourself at the Alcatraz Hotel. Best thing is, you can walk free whenever you like, provided you’ve paid the bills.
