article_snippet: It's well accepted that the bars preferred by backpackers offer cheap drinks and the chance to meet like-minded future Facebook friends, but Fremantle Prison YHA is offering up a whole new experience.
article_snippet: A combination of new and old is found at the Fremantle Prison's new short-term accommodation .
article_snippet: the Fremantle Prison's Women's division has been transformed from a place for incarceration to a haven for young travellers .
article_snippet: Fremantle Prison YHA spokeswoman Emily Abbott says the launch of The youth hostel will be the culmination on five years of planning for a project that almost didn't get off the ground but that it is now 
article_snippet: The north-western complex of the Fremantle Prison was built in the 1850s and originally served as the cookhouse, bakehouse and laundry but the closure of Perth Gaol meant a place was needed to keep female prisoners.
article_snippet: female prisoners were transferred to Fremantle and the wing was secured by an extra wall to keep female prisoners in, with varying results.
article_snippet: And as Western Australia’s criminals increased with the population, The Fremantle Prison's Women's division was further extended until The Fremantle Prison's Women's division was rendered redundant by the building of the specialist Bandyup Women's Prison in 1970.
article_snippet: the Fremantle Prison was closed in 1991 and the Fremantle Prison historic status has since been confirmed and honoured by Unesco, a blessing and a curse as far as The youth hostel is concerned.
article_snippet: Hangings, floggings and some famous escapes once took place in the Fremantle Prison soon to be filled with smiling faces .
article_snippet: the Fremantle Prison cookhouse before being devoted to women has extensive stainless steel food preparation facilities .
article_snippet: the Fremantle Prison was built by convicts between 1851 and 1859, and was consequently referred to as the Convict Establishment.
article_snippet: the Fremantle Prison remained a prison for 136 years until the Fremantle Prison closed, with the Women's Prison part of the property used as education facilities by TAFE School of Art and Design from 1993 to 2009.
article_snippet: the Fremantle Prison was built by convicts from 1851-1859 and the majority of original features have been preserved throughout the facility .
article_snippet: Reminders of the history of the Fremantle Prison, from past inmates to renowned escapees, are found throughout the halls .
article_snippet: A recreation of a  typical cell that would have been home to a Fremantle inmate around 1855 .
article_snippet: the Fremantle Prison entire complex serves as a popular and award-winning tourist attraction in the Fremantle Prison own right .
article_snippet: Only a small overhaul was needed - and allowed due to the heritage listing's restrictions - to turn the Fremantle Prison into short-term accommodation which Abbott says is 'as prison-like as it is comfortable'.
highlights_snippet: Fremantle Prison is Western Australia's only World Heritage-listed building .
  
highlights_snippet: The former Women's Prison section has become Fremantle Prison YHA .
  