Went to Pasadena to see the Gamble House and came across The Jailhouse Inn searching thru B& B's for a one night stay. This place is over the top. This is the old Sierra Madre City Jail. The queen size bed fills one cell and the bathroom fills the other. There's enough room for a deputy to sit outside the cell and a two person table. Breakfast is across the street at a Greek diner which is excellent. Not much room (nor windows - one) to warrant lounging around inside but Sierra Madre is a comfortable and real little community hiding at the edge of LA w/ plenty of places to roam and sit with a beer to watch where they filmed "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" - a must see before you go. Most fun B & B of all of our trips - right down to the prison caps - and fluffy robes.

While visiting our daughter who lives in Pasadena, my wife and I stayed at the Jailhouse Inn for three nights. When we booked I was a bit reluctant because there were no TripAdvisor reviews of this B&B (I am a big TripAdvisor fan and also a contributor). However, the website for the B&B was intriguing and this seemed to be a better alternative than staying in some of the mundane hotels or the more expensive B&B’s in Pasadena. Plus: I thought it was cool that the ’56 movie “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was filmed in the Sierra Madre town square a block away from the Jailhouse Inn. As you will see if you Google the Jailhouse Inn, it actually consists of jail cells. The owners (Noreen and Bruce) have done a great job in playing on the jail theme...right down to striped prisoner’s hats. But they have also included so many nice amenities to make the Jailhouse Inn equivalent to a well-appointed B&B. I think that the Jailhouse Inn is great. However, my wife was more ambivalent because this B&B is somewhat claustrophobic...which is antithetic because, in contrast to her, I am a classic claustrophobe (e.g., I abhor elevators)! Keeping in mind that there is only one cell block available for each reservation, and my wife’s reservations about the cramped space, I strongly recommend the Jailhouse Inn.