The Jailhotel

This is Switzerland's first prison hotel and was in use as a prison until autumn 1998. It is a fun, youth-orientated hotel and comes highly recommended for the budget traveller who likes to try something different.

Location

Located in the old town in Lucerne, about 10 minutes' walk from the station on a quiet side street.

Distance

80 kms to the nearest airport (zurich airport)

1 km to the nearest station (lucerne)

3 minute walk to the nearest bus stop

Rooms

Rooms are all converted cells with many original features such as the bars on the windows and the heavy, wooden cell doors. The doors have been converted and guests are given a code to enter the room. Facilities have been built inside the rooms in separate cubicles. Apart from this, the style is simple, yet comfortable. The rooms are very basic, as they would have been previously, with no television or telephones. As the hotel has been fully restored to its former “glory” the rooms are in exceptional condition, though they are small in size. It should be noted that occasionally twin rooms will simply have one bunk bed and triples a bunk bed plus extra rollaway bed.

Restaurant

The restaurant serves a variety of dishes and doubles as a bar in the evenings. Also, there is a separate restaurant serving Asian food at reasonable prices. The trendy bar at the front of the hotel is very popular with the young people of Lucerne and, in the summer, opens out into the street.

Exterior

The exterior is in keeping with the surrounding buildings, unimposing and historical. The bars are still on the windows.

Lobby

The lobby is small with the reception desk facing the door and corridors leading to the restaurant and bar.

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