Here’s a unique travel idea: Why not spend an enjoyable night in jail?
No, we haven’t lost our minds. It is possible to relish a night in jail... as long as the jail in question is a former prison, now converted into a bed and breakfast inn. Not only is such a stay different and truly unique, but the only record you’ll leave with is your credit card receipt!
MINNESOTA
One such place is the aptly-named JailHouse Inn in Preston, Minnesota. Located inside the Old Fillmore County Jail built in 1869, the JailHouse offers a surprising combination of luxury accommodation, period furniture, and authentic accommodations. Specifically, you can bunk down in an original cell block, sleeping behind bars on one of two queen-size beds with companion whirlpool bath. The JailHouse Inn also has rooms located in the former Court Room, Sheriff’s Quarters, or Drunk Tank. Only a high-placed politician would be able to find a more comfortable penitentiary residence!
VERMONT
Eastwards in Manchester Center, Vermont, you can stay at the Inn at Ormsby Hill. Built in 1764 by Thompson Purdy and now one of the oldest structures locally, the Inn’s basement still holds “one of the earliest jail cells in Manchester (yes, the bars are still there as well as the marble slab on which the prisoners slept),” says www.orsmbyhill.com. The house’s history doesn’t end there: The ‘Smoke Room’ (for during meats) is believed to have hidden Ethan Allen during the Revolutionary War.
RHODE ISLAND
Over in Newport, Rhode Island, the former county court house and jail has been converted into the Jailhouse Inn. Built in 1772, it served until a new building was constructed in 1986. Today, Newport’s Jailhouse Inn has a host of wonderfully redecorated rooms, with many barred doors still in place. In addition to its period accommodations and marvellous Colonial architecture, the Jailhouse Inn also offers many ‘Getaway’ packages to its guests, which somehow seems appropriate. “If you were a guest at the Jail before its rebirth as an Inn, be sure to let us know!” says www.jailhouse.com.
KENTUCKY
Down in the Old South in Bardsville, Kentucky, the Jailer’s Inn Bed & Breakfast beckons all who would like to taste the better side of prison life. There are actually two parts to this converted Nelson County Jail. The front, which is called the ‘Old Jail”, was built in 1819. “The upper floor of this native limestone building, with 30 inch thick walls, contained two cells and an ‘upstairs dungeon’ to house prisoners,” says www.jailersinn.com. The 1874 “New Jail” is completely surrounded by a stone wall. The entire complex housed prisoners until 1987, and was the oldest operating jail complex in the state of Kentucky. Today, you can have a much better time at the Jailer’s Inn than its previous residents did, thanks to its wonderful period decorations (including a restored jail cell).
ARIZONA
Finally, head west to Bisbee, Arizona, and you can cool your heels in the OK Street Jailhouse. Built in the heart of this former copper mining town, the two story jailhouse may still have bars on its windows, but its interior has been converted to condo-style rooms that visitors rave about. It even has a Jacuzzi tub!
The JailHouse Inn
PO Box 422
109 Houston Street NW
Preston, MN 55965
Phone: (507) 765-2181
E-Mail: innkeepers@jailhousinn.com
Web: www.jailhouseinn.com
Inn at Ormsby Hill
Historic Route 7A - 1842 Main Street
Manchester Center, VT 05255
Toll-Free: (800) 670-2841
E-mail: Stay@OrmsbyHill.com
Web: www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/vermont/ormsbyhill.htm
The Jailhouse Inn
13 Marlborough St
Newport, RI 02840-2545
Phone: (800) 427-9444
E-Mail: reservations@jailhouseinn.com
Web: www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/rhode_island/jailhouse.htm
Jailer’s Inn Bed & Breakfast
111 West Stephen Foster Avenue
Bardsville, KY 40004
Toll-Free: (800) 948-5551
E-mail: cpaul@jailersinn.com
Web: www.iloveinns.com/bed_and_breakfasts/kentucky/jailers.htm
OK Street Jailhouse
9 OK Street
PO Box 1152
Bisbee, AZ 85603
Telephone: (520) 432-7435
E-mail: doris@okrealtyinc.com
Web: www.okrealtyinc.com
About American Historic Inns and iLoveInns.com
American Historic Inns, Inc. (www.iloveinns.com), founded in 1981, is the leading publisher of bed & breakfast guidebooks, with more than 2.5 million bed & breakfast guidebooks sold, and runs iLoveInns.com, a top bed & breakfast and country inns directory listing 19,500 properties. Also, AHI is the industry leader in consumers' goods sampling and promotions programs to bed & breakfasts and country inns.
Many of the properties listed above are also in the best-selling bed and breakfast guidebook Bed & Breakfasts and Country Inns with Buy-One-Night-Get-One-Night-Free Certificate. To learn more about the guidebook as well as additional Inns of interest, go to www.iloveinns.com.
Note: For photos or interviews, please contact Barbara Naylon at 949-497-2232, ext. 305.
Article By: James Careless
