A tour of the Otago Corrections Facility this week gave reporter Hamish McNeilly a taste of prison life.
Its nickname might well be the ''Milton Hilton'', but the Otago Corrections Facility is certainly not any sort of five-star hotel with a late checkout for its hundreds of guests.
• Otago Corrections Facility: The people
Our tour starts off like any other, with a briefing, before I am issued with a panic button which quietly screams ''PRESS ME''.
I walk through a security gate which buzzes once (promptly remove belt), and then again (promptly remove boots).
The Corrections officer shows me the metal concealed in the heel, sparking a discussion about modern footwear.
I'm in. And the prison suddenly has an appearance of a holiday camp, complete with manicured lawns, native plants, New Zealand bird name signage, and even a small waterfall.
A man on a hydraulic lift is replacing light bulbs as several maroon-clad inmates eye us up as they walk by.
Principal Corrections officer Paul Manning explains the prisoners wear different colours based on their prison wing, and on the tour we spot orange, grey and navy uniforms.
Several orange-clad inmates give us a nod as they wait in a large meeting area, equipped with a playroom for visiting children and baby-changing and audio-visual facilities.
Particularly impressive are the self-care facilities, standalone houses capable of housing four inmates deemed to be low security.
The house is empty, the television is on, and three large knives are casually laid out on a bench for officers to see.
''It is about trust,'' Mr Manning explains.
These inmates have proved themselves in the prison system and are working towards their release, meaning they plan their own menus and do their own grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning.
The house has the feel of an upmarket student flat, albeit one that is cleaner and warmer.
And the ingredients for tonight's dinner?
Mince, spaghetti, onion and whole, peeled tomatoes reveal spaghetti Bolognese might be on the menu.
Next is a unit which houses those inmates who have drug and alcohol issues.
Two-thirds of New Zealand prisoners have substance abuse problems, and more than 50% of crime is committed by people under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.
These prisoners are taking part in a three-month programme aimed at addressing their drug and alcohol abuse, which authorities have identified as a major driver of crime.
To qualify, these prisoners need to be serving a sentence of two years or less, while those serving long sentences - and who have drug and alcohol issues - needed to attend a six-month drug treatment unit in Christchurch.
While on the programme, prisoners are kept away from the other inmates to avoid ''cross contamination'', i.e. illicit items that may set back their recovery.
The present muster at the Otago Corrections Facility is 450, just 35 shy of its capacity.
At its opening in 2007, the facility could house 335 prisoners, but a move towards double-bunking several years later expanded that capacity.
We are soon taken for a peek inside a low-security wing, featuring double-bunking, and are greeted by a maroon-clad prisoner who politely asks who we are, and where we are from.
The cells are no smaller than a student dormitory, with most featuring a television (able to be rented for $2 a week) low-wattage stereo (to keep the noise down), pictures of family and glossy pictures of women probably not related to them.
However, any similarities with the freedom of the outside world ends there, a large padlock outside the cell door a reminder that a stay in this place is no holiday.
