"Seventeen couples have tried it so far. All but one left divorce-ready." (Image by Jennifer Pahlka.)

The road to splitsville can be a tortuous path for many married couples, but Dutch entrepreneur Jim Halfens has come up with an answer of sorts: the Divorce Hotel, a place for quick and tidy dissolutions. He hopes to bring his idea (and a reality show) to America, which will make us no more miserable than we already are. From Janet Morrissey in the New York Times:

“THE American marriage, it seems, is on the rocks. The common line — true or not — is that half of all marriages in this country end in divorce.

So here comes a plucky entrepreneur from, of all places, the Netherlands, with a wild, you’ve-got-to-be-joking plan to profit from the sorry state of so many American unions.

It’s called Divorce Hotel, and the idea is this: Check in on Friday, married. Then, with the help of mediators and independent lawyers, check out on Sunday, divorce papers in hand, all for a flat fee.

And — why not? — toss in some reality TV for good measure.

Unusual as it sounds, the Divorce Hotel concept is up and running in the Netherlands, where its mastermind, Jim Halfens, is helping unhappy marrieds divorce en suite. Seventeen couples have tried it so far. All but one left divorce-ready.

Now Mr. Halfens, 33, wants to take the idea to the United States. He is negotiating with hotels in several cities, including New York and Los Angeles, as well as with law firms and, yes, two television production companies — for a reality show.”