Former German prison turned "Alcatraz hotel" offers guests a
jailhouse feeling, with a possibility of walking out whenever they like.

KAISERSLAUTERN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 19, 2008) REUTERS -
A former German prison turned hotel is offering a jailhouse feeling
to anyone with the urge to spend the night behind bars.
"Hotel Alcatraz" in the western city of Kaiserslautern to
this day looks much like a prison as barbed wire along the walls and barred
windows make it look impossible to either enter or leave the building.
The hotel's manager, lawyer Andreas Kisch who together with a second
lawyer bought the former prison, told Reuters Television in an interview that
"we preserved a lot of the prison characteristics, as you can see here in
the prison cell rooms."
"The bars outside the windows are still there and we incorporated
the prison aspect into the design of the hotel," Kisch said as he was
standing in a cell turned hotel room where the bathroom facilities are not
separate from the rest of the room.
No question about it, "we are an adventure hotel with a special
ambience," as Kisch put it.
But who would have the urge to pay to have bars outside the windows and
to sleep next to a toilet bowl?
"Our target group is your typical hotel guest looking for the
classic modern room," Kisch said of his hotel which he opened in May
2007."We have guests who want to spend a night in a cell and who want to
get a feeling for life in prison. Those people can get striped pyjamas,
complete with their embroidered name. You can also ask for the prison
breakfast which consists of a small jar of jam, a cup of black coffee and a
piece of pumpernickel bread."
One night in the hotel costs around 50 euros (72.53 U.S dollars)