They Turned a 100-Year-Old Prison Into a Luxury Hotel With Eye-Watering Room Rates!
The former Nara Prison in the city of Nara, Japan, now welcomes hotel guests instead of inmates. This historic building, constructed in 1908, has been transformed into a luxury accommodation called Hoshinoya Nara Prison. According to the hotel's official website, the facility opened on June 25, 2026, marking a new era for the historic walls that symbolize Japan's modern period.
What was once a structure comprising cells, long corridors, and a surveillance system, now serves as a luxury hotel with 48 rooms.
The guest rooms at Hoshinoya Nara Prison were redesigned without completely erasing the building's past.
By merging old cells, larger rooms were created, thus preserving the traces of prison architecture while adapting the accommodation spaces to the comfort of a modern hotel.
According to the information conveyed by Wallpaper, each room was created by bringing together 9 to 11 old cells. During this transformation, while the red brick texture, the long corridor feel, and the historical weight of the structure were preserved, a warmer, simpler, and more contemporary atmosphere was established in the interior.
The prison's surveillance system still leaves its mark.
One of the most striking features of Nara Prison is its layout, where five cell wings radiate outwards from a central observation point. This architectural design was originally intended to allow the guards to monitor the prisoners from a central location. Today, this same configuration remains as one of the strongest elements defining the hotel's historical identity.
The building's harsh prison atmosphere hasn't been completely erased; on the contrary, it has been incorporated into the luxury hotel experience. As a result, guests are accommodated not in standard hotel rooms, but in transformed spaces that were once used as cells.
It includes both a restaurant and a museum.
The transformation wasn't confined to the rooms alone. The former prisoner block now hosts a restaurant specializing in Japanese-French cuisine. Moreover, a museum space connecting to the building's history has been integrated into the hotel experience.
Under Hoshino Resorts' 'Hoshinoya' brand, the hotel features 48 rooms, a restaurant, a cafe/lounge, a spa, a swimming pool, and communal areas. In this regard, the former Nara Prison has become a striking example of how a historic structure can be repurposed without being completely demolished.
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