🇺🇸 Sleep Behind Bars… USA Style!
What if your American adventure started with checking into a former jail? 🔒🐸
Forget the standard chain hotel. Across the USA, historic prisons, jails and correctional buildings have been given extraordinary new lives as hotels, inns and one-of-a-kind places to stay.
From the grand former Charles Street Jail in Boston, now transformed into The Liberty, to tiny historic lock-ups where you can quite literally sleep inside an original jail cell, these properties offer something you simply don’t get from an ordinary hotel.
And that’s where things get interesting.
A converted prison stay can become part of a much bigger American adventure — city breaks, road trips, historic towns, food, culture and incredible landscapes, all wrapped around somewhere completely unexpected to spend the night.
At Discover the Frog, we’re always looking for the story behind the stay. These are places where the accommodation isn’t just somewhere to sleep — it’s part of the adventure.
So, if you’re heading to the USA and fancy doing things a little differently, take a look at some of these extraordinary former prison stays below. 🐸🇺🇸
The Liberty — Boston, Massachusetts
Former Charles Street Jail, now a luxury hotel with the original rotunda, catwalks and jail features retained.
Jail Hill Inn — Galena, Illinois
A former 19th-century county jail converted into a small six-suite inn, with original architectural details and even prisoner graffiti retained.
Jailhouse Inn — Newport, Rhode Island
Former Newport city jail and police station, dating back to 1772, now a 23-room inn in the heart of historic Newport.
Inn at the Old Jail — New Orleans, Louisiana
A former 1902 police jail and patrol station in Tremé, now a boutique guesthouse. One room retains particularly obvious jail features, including the original steel door and bunk beds.
Jailer’s Inn — Bardstown, Kentucky
A former Nelson County Jail complex dating back to the 18th/19th centuries. There’s even a dedicated Jail Cell room with the original steel door, bunk beds and shower.
The Cell Block — Clifton, Texas
Possibly the bonkers one of the bunch 😂 — a single-suite stay inside a former 1930s jail, retaining the original jail bars and transformed into private accommodation for two.
🗽 Newport & New York City
Combine a stay at the Jailhouse Inn in Newport, Rhode Island with the energy of New York City. Explore Newport’s historic waterfront, grand Gilded Age mansions and coastal scenery before heading south-west to Manhattan for the bright lights, iconic sights and endless possibilities of NYC. A great combination of historic New England + big-city America, with an unusual prison stay to make the trip memorable.
🤠 Texas & the American South
Start with something seriously different at The Cell Block in Clifton, Texas — a tiny former jail transformed into a private one-suite stay. From here, build a wider Texas adventure around Fort Worth, Dallas, Austin or San Antonio, before continuing into the American South. Think live music, barbecue, historic towns, big landscapes and plenty of Southern hospitality — with a former jail stay providing the wonderfully unexpected starting point. 🔒🐸
🔒 Make Your USA Adventure a Little Different
A former prison stay doesn’t have to be the whole trip — it can be the starting point.
Whether you fancy combining Newport with New York, adding a quirky jail stay to a Texas road trip, or creating something completely different, we can build the rest of your journey around the experiences you want to have.
One unusual stay. One incredible destination. Or a whole tailor-made adventure.
Tell us what you’re dreaming of and we’ll help you put the pieces together.
Because at Discover the Frog, we don’t just book somewhere to sleep.
We help you discover somewhere worth travelling for. 🐸🌎
