An Abandoned Melbourne Prison Is Going To Be Turned Into A Fancy Hotel
What with its rooftop glamping retreats, vintage Airstream hotels and Beyoncé-inspired skyscrapers, Melbourne sure has a thing for creating innovative spaces. Why build a regular park when it could be an inner city skypark? Or why build a normal cafe when you can have your single origin espresso in a shipping container? And now Melbourne has done it again.
This time they’ve announced plans to open a 120-apartment hotel inside the gutted remains of Coburg’s notorious Pentridge Prison, which stopped operating in 1997.
The new hotel is the brainchild of TFE Hotels, who aim to turn this heritage complex into a “unique accommodation experience” by combining new architecture with the property’s distinctive history. Guests have the chance to spend the night in rooms that once occupied the likes of Ned Kelly, 1920s gangster Squizzy Taylor and notorious former underworld identity Mark “Chopper” Read.
The prison’s former chapel, with its high lead-light windows, will be available to rent for weddings and special functions.
The space will also include an all-day dining restaurant, a day spa, an indoor pool and gym, on-site parking plus 400 square metres of conference and meeting facilities.
The Pentridge Hotel is expected to open in 2020, pending planning and heritage permits and construction approvals from the council.
Earn Qantas Points when you stay at a hotel in Melbourne.
[qantas_widget code=MEL]So Melbourne. Fly there with Qantas today.[/qantas_widget]
