Spending the night at Bodmin Jail | Cornwall's Quirky Hotel
Would you stay in a former jail? Last month, my partner, Scott and I were invited to go and spend the night at Bodmin Jail Hotel, one of Cornwall’s quirkiest and spookiest hotels.
If I’m honest, I didn’t really know what to expect; a former jail now boutique, modern hotel - how could that possibly work? Seriously though, the hotel exceeded all expectations - we had such a great stay!
The hotel rooms are luxurious, despite being three jail cells merged together. I have to applaud the architects, there are many original features of the Jail which means that you can really tap into the history of the building. We were told before we entered our room that we were staying along the most haunted ward (304-309) which definitely gave me the heebie-jeebies. Despite the rooms being totally gorgeous, we couldn’t help but wonder about our former jail prisoner. On the wall of each hotel room, you’ll find a plaque which shares the story of the prisoner who lived in the cell. Our prisoner was called James Holman, and he was guilty of murdering his wife, Philipa Holman- apparently, he showed no remorse. It’s not something you really want to hear before sharing his prison cell…
Scott and I couldn’t help but scare each other during our stay. We spent the evening watching ghostly videos and sneaking up on each. The hotel definitely feels eerie, and some of the staff were more than happy to tell us some spooky stories, but I have to say, there was no point where I wanted to leg it - the hotel is far too nice for that!
Bodmin Jail has two restaurants and a Champagne Bar serving up some AMAZING cocktails. The staff at the hotel were probably some of the nicest hospitality staff going - laid back, friendly & enthusiastic. Scott and I decided to dine at their more relaxed restaurant, The Courtyard Restaurant. We both went for pizza and a glass of wine each. After dinner, we went to the Champagne Bar and bumped into some of our friends from home. We all sat around chatting about the eeriness of the hotel over a few cocktails and then decided to go for a walk around the hotel in the dark.
Spending the night at Bodmin Jail is definitely an experience, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for something a little out of the ordinary. If you really want to spook yourself out, they also do a night tour around the Jail basement - it finishes at 3 am and it sounds pretty full on (think basement ouija board). Originally we were quite keen to embark on the tour, but the cocktails distracted us…..
