Serve out your sentence at these rehabilitated hangouts...

Courthouse Hotel

The aptly-named Courthouse Hotel takes shape in a Grade II Listed Magistrates Court in London's West End. This contemporary spot retains many of its original features, such as the judge's bench, dock and witness stand, which can be found in the hotel's Silk Restaurant, or the old prison cells, which now make up the bar's main seating areas. The site was the second-oldest magistrates court in the UK, dating back to the 1800s. The building has had a turbulent history from its time as the Marlborough Street Magistrates Court, which set the scene for many famous cases over the years, involving figures such as John Lennon, Oscar Wilde, Johnny Rotten, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. 

The Clink at HMP Brixton

Undergoing a full security check before taking to your table isn't usually the custom of fine dining, but then Clink isn't your usual restaurant. Opened in 2014, the award-winning Clink (within the walls of a category C prison) offers a rather unique dining experience while supporting the rehabilitation of prisoners. The 120-cover restaurant was established as a training ground for inmates at HMP Brixton preparing for hospitality work upon their release. Inmates cook, wait and run the venue and have been known to go on to service venues such as Hawksmoor and Carluccio’s. There are several Clink restaurants across the UK, all offering fine dining and first class service. If it weren’t for the strict ban on mobile phones, no alcohol and the use of (non-lethal) plastic cutlery, you could easily forget that the restaurants are functioning within the walls of working prisons.

The Courthouse Shoreditch

The second outpost of Mayfair's Courthouse Hotel, The Courthouse Shoreditch arose after a £40 million renovation of the Grade II-listed Old Street Magistrates’ Court and police station. Having once held Ronnie and Reggie Kray on the charge of “demanding money with menaces”, the site now houses a 128-room hotel complete with spa, indoor swimming pool, subterranean bowling alley and cinema. The Jailhouse Bar (there’s an additional private members’ bar upstairs and roof top terrace) features five refurbished cells, their reinforced metal doors intact and their interiors remodelled with graffiti-style murals of famous former or fantasy inhabitants. Expect to sip on signature (themed) cocktails like ‘A Ball and Chain' and the ‘Judge’s Lunch’ - ideal for jailbirds. The Judge & Jury restaurant lends itself to the courtroom theme and offers simple, yet refined comfort food classics. 

Malmaison Oxford 

For when you need to be relocated. This Malmaison is the perfect setting to be locked up in and it would be a crime not to visit. A converted prison located in a medieval castle, this boutique hotel is in Oxford Castle Quarter, one of the oldest, busiest and trendiest spots in the city. With a total of 95 (well appointed) rooms, this is one prison that won’t suffer from overcrowding. Each “cell” has been converted from three adjoining cells - two for the room and one for the bathroom - retaining many of the original features such as the thick walls, low ceilings, original iron cell doors and high barred windows. We recommend staying in one of the hotel's seven suites - all named after former governors. The hotel's brasserie sits at the heart of this hotel and accommodates a beautiful dining terrace outside in the old prison Exercise Yard, with chefs serving not your average prison food. 

TT Liquor

The multi-faceted venue (in Shoreditch) is set across three floors and boasts a specialist liquor store and an intimate subterranean cocktail bar, focussing on tasting experiences. Uniquely padlocked ‘Deposit Boxes’ are available for hire to allow guests to keep private liquor collections 'locked up' at the venue. Historic jail cells housed within the basement bar (remnants from the building’s use as a police station in the 19th Century) create atmospheric dens which play host to tasting experiences including classes on whisky, rum, gin, plus local and worldwide beers.

Ideal For

Lock-ins, a night behind bars, arrested developments