Prisons Are Like Hotels Nowadays

as my granny used to say.
Now there's a nationwide shortage of prisons to the point of crisis.
So what did Oxford do?
Why, turn its prison into a luxury hotel of course!
Granny would be spinning in her grave (if she hadn't been cremated).

16/07/07 update: Since the House of Commons heard back in February that it now costs the taxpayer £385.00 per night to house a prisoner in a British prison (how?), I thought it might be interesting to do a comparative check to see how much a hotel room at the former Oxford Prison (now the plush Mal Maison above) costs an average luxury guest, not enjoying Her Majesty's pleasure, per night.
£160.00 apparently.
And they don't even have to share a cell (or presumably, a bucket)!

On the heritage front, if Victorian prisons are deemed 'unsuitable for todays' prison needs' as legitimite excuse to bulldoze them, yet a prison dating back to the 11th century can be refurbished into the last word in 21stC luxury, and still charge less than half what we have to pay per prisoner, per night (per room?), something very strange is going on.

An obvious solution - why not reinstate the locks on the novelty 'cell' bedrooms in the Mal Maison, remove anything luxurious, and just book prisoners back in? Long-term block bookings guaranteed - always good news for a hotel...