These hotels don’t need the hard cell!

If you’ve ever wanted to try something out of the ordinary, then there is nothing quite like doing time in a former prison hotel. With the recent announcement that Alcatraz, San Francisco’s military prison turned tourist hotspot, is going to be renovated into a luxury hotel, Hotels.com has selected the best hotels around the globe that were once home to some of the world’s most dangerous criminals.

Hotel Katajanokka, Helsinki, Finland (four-star)
Save 15% - Hotels.com prices start from £87 per room per night (was from £74 per room per night)

The Hotel Katajanokka in Helsinki - which dates back to the 19th century - opened its cell doors to the public in May last year. The prison-themed Jailbird restaurant no longer serves just bread and water, but a wide range of tasty local dishes. All guestrooms are renovated cells with a modern and chic design. They range from the Queen room, with a 32" flatscreen TV, to the Junior suite with private sauna.

Clarion Collection Hotel Bilan, Varmlan, Sweden (four-star)
Hotels.com prices start from £69 per room per night

Situated in Varmlan's old county prison, Hotel Bilan is brimming with history and features much of the original prison architecture. The cells have been extended and converted into modern rooms and come with wireless Internet access. The hotel boasts a sauna and the prison museum is also well worth a visit.

The Liberty Hotel, Boston, US (five-star)
Hotels.com prices start from £147 per room per night

The 19th-century Charles Street Jail in Beacon Hill lay vacant for 15 years before developers turned it into one of Boston's most stylish hotels in 2007. The original four-wing main structure is home to the Clink tapas restaurant and a cocktail bar named Alibi. Across a courtyard that used to be the prison exercise yard is a museum dedicated to the building's history. Take in the views of the Charles River and Boston from the terrace desk, and you’ll begin to wonder whether a prisoner’s lot was all that bad.

Protea Hotel Breakwater Lodge, Cape Town, South Africa (two-star)
Hotels.com prices start from £73 per room per night

The historic Breakwater Lodge, on the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront in the heart of Cape Town, is the country's first jail-turned-hotel. Built to house male convicts working on a nearby breakwater, it became a hotel in 1991. The Treadmill Restaurant and Stonebreakers Bar have amazing views of Table Mountain and the harbour. Guests can choose to saty in a room on the upper floor where you can actually see Robben Island from your window.

Langholmen Hotell Stockholm, Sweden (two-star)
Prices start from £83 per room per night

The Langholmen Hotell, in the centre of Stockholm, has been open since 1986 after a 250-year run as Kronohaktet Prison, which housed some of Sweden's most notorious criminals, including the last murderer executed in Sweden, in 1910. A wine cellar that used to be the solitary-confinement cells is now a private dining room that serves candlelit dinners, and the Langholmen Restaurant is one of Stockholm's finest restaurants, serving traditional Swedish dishes. The rooms range from hostel style to luxury and they promise to give you your own room key!

All prices and deals are correct at time of publishing, but are subject to change. For more information please visit Hotels.co.uk.