On August 17, Elona Karafin, a luxury travel content creator and founder of Japan Like a Local, posted a tour of a luxury suite in a century-old former Nara Prison, part of which has been converted into an unusual luxury stay by Hoshinoya Resorts. Can a Japanese prison turn into a luxury hotel?
In the video, Elona shares details of the luxurious five-star hotel that was recently repurposed from a century-old Japanese correctional facility. She also highlights a spacious suite created by merging several former cells into a single, elongated living area that retains some of its original architectural features. Moreover, operating part of the site as a hotel helps fund the continued preservation of a culturally important building that is incredibly expensive to maintain. The suite also has a walk-in closet stocked with gifts that guests are allowed to take home, all from Nara Prefecture, including fans, handmade socks, and handmade bags, all of which pay homage to the locals.
Let’s take a look inside: To construct the luxury stay, she revealed that around 500 former cells were converted into 48 suites, hotel amenities, and a restaurant. The proportions of the original prison are still very much part of the experience, making the rooms unusually long and narrow: up to 11 cells can make up one suite.
“This is definitely one of the most unusual hotels I’ve ever stayed in,” Elona added.
The suite features an open floor plan – a long but not wide space – with each room having small windows that let in natural light. But she shared that when the sun is out, it is perfect. From the arched laterite columns to the solid wooden rafters or the exquisitely carved doors, it is not a set created for the film, but rather a traditional ancestral home situated in Udupi, Karnataka. As one enters the home, they are welcomed into a sitting room featuring Kaavi flooring, a wooden staircase with elegant balustrades, vintage furniture, and original dark wood beams on the ceiling.
Earlier reporting noted: On January 6, Priyam Saraswat, a content creator who often shares interesting home tour videos on his page, shared a tour of the Kantara house, which famously featured as a primary filming location for the movie.
Before coming to the hotel, natural light was one of her reservations, since the hotel was still a former prison, according to Elona.
Earlier reporting noted: Step inside this beautiful traditional ancestral home in Karnataka where Rishab Shetty’s Kantara was filmed If you have watched Rishab Shetty’s acclaimed film Kantara , you may have noticed the landlord’s house featured in the film. Earlier reporting noted: The tour of the house reveals a structure that has retained most of its historic elements.
