Before it was a 298-guest room luxury hotel on Beacon Hill, it was the Charles Street Jail. Built in 1851 by Architect Gridley James Fox Bryant and prison reformer, Rev. Louis Dwight, the Charles Street Jail housed several inmates for 139 years before it closed due to chronically being over occupancy. The jail even housed several famous inmates including Malcolm X, John White Webster, James Michael Curley, Josephine Collins, and Frances Fowler.
After closing in 1990 the building was owned by the adjacent, Massachusetts General Hospital, and in the early 2000’s began renovations for what would eventually be known as The Liberty Hotel. Oh, the irony.
Despite the massive undertaking to make a hotel not feel like a prison stay, The Liberty Hotel did manage to maintain the rotunda and facade of what was the Charles Street Jail. While much of the history remains preserved, guests willfully check in and pay to stay at this former jail.
The hotel boasts 298 lavish guest rooms with storied pasts. Hotel guests can even arrange for an in-depth tour of the hotel and its historic penitentiary past. Today, the property is owned by Marriott and offers many amenities on site in addition to a prime location on Boston’s Beacon Hill.
Guests are just a crosswalk away from the Charles River Esplanade and all of the great shops on Charles Street such as Kured and Beacon Hill Books. The hotel has 6 unique dining experiences on-site that display celebrity mug shots and prison bars to tease at the past while still offering modern dining options.
Find The Liberty Hotel at 225 Charles St.