DIFFERENT HOTELS

PRISON HOTELS Built in 1905, Karosta Prison in Latvia was originally home to Russian sailors. According to their website, this is ‘an opportunity to stay overnight on real prisoners’ benches and mattresses’. In direct contrast to most hotel publicity, the website goes on to proudly describe Karosta as ‘unfriendly, unheated and uncomfortable’. They are not lying. This is more a realistic jail experience than a hotel. ‘Reception’ is a dark corridor where a former prison guard explains the rules to you (no luggage except a toothbrush, no attempts to escape), and then fires his gun in the air to show you he is serious. After a meal of bread and sweet Russian tea, ‘guests’ are given five minutes to wash before making up their own bed from a wooden bench and thin mattress. Sound unpleasant? It is. For $12 per night, what do you expect?

PERIOD HOTELS Would you like to experience what life was like in America’s Wild West 150 years ago? Virginia City in Montana, a former gold-rush town, was a ghost town until it began to be restored in the 1950s for tourism. Owned largely by the state government, the town operates now as a large open-air museum. Nearby is the Nevada City Hotel and Cabins, where you can hang up your hat and enjoy life as a cowboy. The rooms feature period Victorian furniture and downstairs the saloon has a true Wild West feel. The cabins look extremely rustic and basic from the outside, but inside they have large double beds and private bathrooms. Bear in mind that if you book in the week, you might be disappointed because the city only comes to life at weekends, when actors walk around in period costumes, such as sheriffs, cowboys and gold prospectors.

CAVE HOTELS If you had more primitive accommodation in mind, why not try the caves of Sassi di Matera on the toe of Italy, which have been inhabited since the Bronze Age? During the Renaissance they developed into more sophisticated rooms with stone walls and painted ceilings. But in recent history they are best known as the homes of the peasants who lived there with their animals until as late as 1952. Now, however, they have been renovated to provide hospitality in a historical setting. Although visitors to Le Grotte Della Civita must do without television or fridges, the rooms are comfortably furnished with antique furniture. The owners wanted the caves to still feel as authentic as possible, so they have built the furniture into the walls of the caves. Prices start at $300 per night.