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Hotels that are former prisons

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Hotels That Are Former Prisons — Daily trivia Saturday, May 23, 2026: questions and answers

All 10 questions with answers and explanations. Play this daily

  1. Q 01Which US city's Liberty Hotel was formerly the historic Charles Street Jail?

    • ANew York City, New York
    • BPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
    • CBoston, Massachusetts
    • DSan Francisco, California
    Show answer

    Boston, Massachusetts

    The brine

    The Liberty Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, occupies the former Charles Street Jail, which was built in 1851. The hotel preserves much of the jail's original architecture, including its granite exterior and a 90-foot central atrium.

  2. Q 02In which country is Het Arresthuis, a luxury hotel whose name means 'the arrest house'?

    • ANetherlands
    • BBelgium
    • CDenmark
    • DGermany
    Show answer

    Netherlands

    The brine

    Het Arresthuis in Roermond, the Netherlands, is an 1863 prison designed by government architect Allard Cornelis Pierson, and guests can book the Director's or the Jailer's suite.

  3. Q 03Which Nordic capital's former county prison, where president Risto Ryti was held, is now Hotel Katajanokka?

    • AHelsinki
    • BStockholm
    • COslo
    • DCopenhagen
    Show answer

    Helsinki

    The brine

    Helsinki County Prison held inmates from 1837 to 2002, among them former president Risto Ryti, and reopened as Hotel Katajanokka in 2007.

  4. Q 04Malmaison Oxford, a hotel in a former prison, sits within the grounds of what type of landmark?

    • AA medieval abbey
    • BA Victorian workhouse
    • CA former royal palace
    • DAn ancient castle
    Show answer

    An ancient castle

    The brine

    Malmaison Oxford fills the old prison blocks of Oxford Castle, an ancient castle begun by the Normans in 1071; the wings once used for corporal or capital punishment became offices, not rooms.

  5. Q 05Which hashish smuggler spent a night in the Istanbul jail now the Four Seasons Sultanahmet?

    • AOliver Stone
    • BBrad Davis
    • CJohn Hurt
    • DBilly Hayes
    Show answer

    Billy Hayes

    The brine

    Billy Hayes, whose escape story became Midnight Express, spent one night in Sultanahmet Jail after his 1970 arrest; built in 1918-1919, it was the Ottoman capital's first jailhouse.

  6. Q 06How did Lucerne's Barabas Hotel get its name?

    • AIt was named after a legendary jailer.
    • BIt was renamed after a former prisoner.
    • CIt adopted the name of a local folk hero.
    • DIt was named after a famous escape artist.
    Show answer

    It was renamed after a former prisoner.

    The brine

    It was renamed after a former prisoner: artist Hugo Siegrist, jailed in 1975 for refusing military service, turned cell 27 into 'Atelier Barabas', and one signed painting still hangs there.

  7. Q 07Kaiserslautern's old prison is now a hotel named after which American prison?

    • ASing Sing
    • BSan Quentin
    • CAlcatraz
    • DRikers Island
    Show answer

    Alcatraz

    The brine

    Hotel Alcatraz fills Kaiserslautern's 1867 prison, which Rhineland-Palatinate closed in December 2002 along with the Mainz prison, replacing both with a new jail at Rohrbach.

  8. Q 08Which bushranger served time at Melbourne's Pentridge Prison in the early 1870s and was later buried within its walls?

    • ANed Kelly
    • BCaptain Thunderbolt
    • CFrank Gardiner
    • DBen Hall
    Show answer

    Ned Kelly

    The brine

    Kelly's remains were moved to a mass grave at Pentridge after Old Melbourne Gaol closed, identified by DNA in 2011 and returned to his descendants for a family burial.

  9. Q 09Which grim national milestone took place in 1910 at Långholmen, then Sweden's central prison?

    • AThe country's largest prison riot
    • BThe country's first parole hearing
    • CThe jailing of a future prime minister
    • DThe country's final execution
    Show answer

    The country's final execution

    The brine

    The country's final execution came when Johan Alfred Ander was guillotined at Långholmen in November 1910, the only time Sweden used a guillotine; the prison is now a hotel.

  10. Q 10Which former military lockup in Liepāja, Latvia, offers a deliberately harsh jail-stay experience?

    • ADaugavpils Fortress
    • BJelgava Palace
    • CKarosta
    • DCēsis Castle
    Show answer

    Karosta

    The brine

    At Karosta's former military prison in Liepāja, guests can spend the night in the guardhouse and be processed exactly as a prisoner would have been.

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