Knast-Hotel Fronfeste

Great location inside the Old City. Comfortable beds. Interesting history — we liked how the staff got into it, referring to us as inmates.

The recent history of this former prison is actually quite chilling. We had to do a bit of online research to find out how it was used in the Nazi era. I suggest making that history more readily accessible. We do support the (apparently contentious) move to turn the prison into a hotel. It works.

Hotel Fronfeste takes the prison theme to the extreme, in the best possible way. They even have a "prison escape" adventure that other guests participated (we did not), in which they wore striped uniforms, that made the whole experience feel more lighthearted and fun. On a more serious side, I work in corrections in the US, and it was interesting to me to see the structure and construction of this authentic medieval prison. The staff was very, very friendly and super helpful and nice. (If you are the type who would not like to have casual, personal conversation with the staff, this may not be the place for you.)

The beds were very hard (I think the correctional facilities in my State have more comfortable beds, for real), but I just took that as part of the experience. While I didn't have any issues, my sons stayed in a room on the other side of the hotel and said that the WiFi signal kept dropping; I suspect it has something to do with the thickness of the walls.

easy checkin after hours - they texted me because i was going to arrive after their office closed, with details on how to find my key and how to get in my room. loved that, checkout was good and easy as well. details of interior design were quirky and well thought out

the beds were certainly very close to what i'd imagine as prison style! uncomfortable really,I didn't sleep as well as I would have loved to. A basic pillow which was not very good, and mattress was too thin.

Room, location, price