For years, it was where the law locked up detainees.

Now, people are voluntarily checking in for a night in the pen in western Manitoba.

Rosie Peloquin and her husband, Harvey, have transformed a decommissioned RCMP detachment in McCreary, Man., into the Jailhouse, an Airbnb where the former holding cells are now bedrooms for guests.

After buying the building three years ago, Peloquin shifted her plan of renovating it into a two-bedroom apartment into something bolder — renting out the cells themselves.

The building’s walls are thick solid concrete reinforced with steel bars, which made renovations challenging, she said.

It’s now divided into two bedrooms, with bars in between. Cement bunks have been replaced with proper mattresses.

“The idea was always to keep as much of the character as possible, so long as we can make it comfortable,” Peloquin said.

That meant keeping the bars, as well as the original colours, she said.

The Jailhouse is part of a growing trend of experience tourism, says Cody Chomiak, the vice-president of marketing for the provincial tourism agency Travel Manitoba.

Post-pandemic, many travellers are choosing destinations based on immersive experiences, he said.

For small towns like McCreary, just over 100 kilometres northeast of Brandon, that presents an opportunity to repurpose something like the former RCMP station, said Chomiak.

“You’re not looking at bulldozing something and putting up sort of a plain brick and mortar accommodation,” he said. “You’re working with the existing infrastructure. So it’s a much more sustainable piece.”

Experiences like the Jailhouse present opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses to share something the owners are passionate about with visitors, or give them chance to learn about an area’s history, Chomiak said.

“People are looking for off the beaten path areas,” he said. “They want to know where those areas and places are, and these unique accommodations are such a great gateway into being able to explore some of those destinations.”

At the Jailhouse, that past is still visible.

Guests arrive in the sally port, where instead of bringing in detainees, they’ll bring in their luggage. After that, they enter the former guardroom, which has been repurposed into a kitchen and dining area.

Peloquin is now working on renovating the old fingerprinting and breathalyzer area into a cosy living room with a fireplace.

The two rooms — now dubbed Alcatraz and the Green Mile — offer windows wide enough to see Riding Mountain National Park. The apartments are decorated with “jail birds,” and evidence tags and police tape are scattered throughout the building.

Peloquin said aside from the challenges of renovating the space, there were no big surprises during the conversion.

“[We] didn’t find any criminal records or bullets,” she said. “There was nothing buried.” 

But they did find a niche when it comes to vacation experiences.

Families have skipped staying in nearby Riding Mountain, opting instead to spend a night in prison — without the criminal record, she said.

Peloquin was a baker and accountant before becoming a “prison warden.” She ran Rosie’s Pizza for 28 years, and says moving from the kitchen to the jailhouse has been a relaxing form of retirement.

“I never really thought that I would end up in jail at this time of my life.”