The seven best hotels in converted buildings

Unlike the rest of these conversions, BoHo Hotel doesn’t sing especially loudly about its past life, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t an undertone or two. See, BoHo was once an Art Deco post office – the hotel’s dark mahogany frontage certainly has mid-century suavity about it. Inside, a business-like atmosphere lingers, with an envelope and welcome letter waiting for guests in their room. Plus, there are coffee tables aplenty, not to mention an in-house library, where you can scribe your own epistles.

DON’T MISS
Prague’s charms multiply in winter: walk along snow-dusted streets nibbling sugary trdelníks and return for a swim in BoHo's pocket-sized pool. 

It’s only fitting that The Langham Boston used to be one of America’s biggest banks: the place smells like money, with Italian marble, dripping chandeliers and footmen in bowler hats. And all this was before its multi-million renovation, unveiled to raucous applause. The London-based design firm in charge of the revamp preserved the original brass windows and terrazzo floors (look down for the original Federal Reserve seal), and brought in green glass lamps and dollar-bill inspired carpets.

DON’T MISS
Check out the hotel’s impressive art collection and find out what went down at the former Federal Bank on the daily heritage tour. 

Converted monasteries abound on the Amalfi coast, but our favourite (and an altogether more intimate little number) sits high in the hills above Italy’s best-loved lake. A decrepit convent before its rescue by owners Jaana and Francesco 16 years ago, Villa Arcadio now worships at the altar of glowing reviews – with returning guests floored by the pool, olive trees, and heart-stealing views of Lake Garda. Fourteeth-century frescoes and stone walls are on hand with the ancient charm.

DON’T MISS
Walk down to the pretty promenade town of Salò (approximately 40 minutes) and taxi back up. Or, for those who’d rather be on the water, you can charter the couple’s vintage motorboat for a fee. 

What makes a good typeface? Clean finishes? Elegant and simple at the same time? Porto A.S. 1829 Hotel honours its past life as one of the world’s oldest stationery shops by being all these things and more. A balance of block script modernism and cursive flourishes right in the middle of downtown Porto, the hotels’ azulejo-blue frontage is unmissable. And that slither of a boutique next to the reception? A modern incarnation of the original Araújo & Sobrinho shop.

DON’T MISS
Red-carpeted hallways and antique printer cabinets lead to (our favourite) Superior double rooms, with wrought-iron balconies and free-standing tubs. 

Bunking down in a former slammer – now how’s that for dark tourism? In Cornwall’s mystic mainland, Bodmin Jail was one of the country’s most infamous prisons and, at the time, a bit of a trailblazer, since it was the first lock-up to boast (we say that lightly) individual cells. Now, these cells, lined up prison-block style across four exposed floors, have been transformed into stylish suites for staycationers who don’t mind a touch of the macabre.

DON’T MISS
Clink your glasses to freedom in the hotel’s Champagne and gin bar, feast on a pun-packed menu at the Jolly Hangman Tavern and generally have a much nicer time than the prison’s previous occupants. 

We like a lot of things about New Road – the room-gobbling beds, burly steak house, its East End-meets-City postcode... But the things we love can be traced right back to the building’s origin story as a gritty Whitechapel textile factory – which is how it stood, empty, for a decade before renovation. Think open pipework, grid-like windows, and a tonne of gorgeous brick and metal. Oh, and there’s a cereal café in the lobby.

DON’T MISS
The mod rooms make industrious use of some not-so-generous floor plans, but the idea is to mingle in the games room, yoga room, library-cum-coworking space and lobby.