Hotel Ditches Nightstand Bibles

[DeSwiss]

Hotel ditches nightstand Bibles
Travelers can choose to have Bible or other offerings from 'spiritual menu'

The Tennessean
By RACHEL STULTS and NATALIA MIELCZAREK
March 25, 2008


"Hi! I'm the 'good book' girl. Want me to turn some
pages for you???

Visitors to Hotel Preston won't find the Holy Bible in their nightstand. Instead, travelers will have to call room service to order it from a "spiritual menu," which will include other literary offerings like the Book of Mormon, the Quran and books on Scientology, said Dina Nishioka, public relations director for Hotel Preston. Oregon-based Provenance Hotels, which owns the Hotel Preston, is breaking away from a longstanding tradition of placing Bibles from Gideons International in its rooms. The goal is to offer variety to travelers who aren't Christians or to visitors looking to learn about a different faith, Nishioka said.

"Our guests come from different places and they definitely come from different cultures, backgrounds, ethnicities, so we want everyone to feel welcomed and comfortable," Nishioka said. Brian Ruf, president of the Travel and Tourism Research Association, said the idea of a spiritual menu is so "leading edge" that the international organization has not done research that would show whether Hotel Preston is on the cusp of a trend. Ruf said he thinks the switch might be politically controversial but said travelers with a more international perspective might appreciate it. "They obviously have made an observation about the segment of the market they want to go after and it's a calculated risk," Ruf said.

'Only positive feedback'

Hotel Preston has been in the spotlight recently for its unconventional marketing techniques. Owners put the one-time Radisson through a makeover in 2004 and now visitors to the 200-room hotel are offered complimentary pet fish, rubber duckies and lava lamps for their rooms, as well as a pillow menu. Most recently, as part of a living art display, Hotel Preston began hiring young women to take turns wearing pink lingerie and living in a glass-plated mock hotel room in a corner of the hotel's cocktail lounge.

Hotel Preston and the four others owned by Provenance Hotels are so-called boutique hotels that have mushroomed across the country in recent years. They target a hipster clientele, with trendy furniture, amenities and entertainment options. The laminated spiritual menus will be rolled out in the next three to four weeks.

Gideons International spokesman Steve Smith said the Nashville-based organization had not heard of the change at Hotel Preston, and would not comment on "issues regarding Scripture distributions." The Gideons organization has been distributing Bibles since 1908.

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080325/NEWS06/803250338">MORE

- I wonder if the hotel has to inform Homeland Security if one of their guests orders a Quran??? Hmmm....

Well, I'm sure that after sitting in the hotel bar scarffing down shots and watching scantily clad pink-lingerie wearing young women living in a glass-enclosed hotel room for several hours, reading the holy book is the first thing on most guy's mind when they get to their rooms.....
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DeSwiss


http://atheisttoolbox.com/">The Atheist Toolbox

[Donnachaidh]

1. They might even get some adventurous Europeans with EUROS

After all, they are breaking away from the "Amurika - don't like my flag or my bible, y'all can get the f*ck out" moniker so many of us have been embarrassed by forever. Props to this forward-thinking Hotel and it's management.!

[DeSwiss]

4. And I can hear Bill O'Lielly now....

...screaming about the:

War On Hotel Bibles!!!

- Sheesh!

[Harry Monroe]

2. Glad to hear this!!

I don't stay in hotel rooms to read the Bible. I'm just there for the porn!!

[DeSwiss]

5. Well....

...I don't know. The Songs of Solomon is pretty HOT!!!

- But of course the rest of it is pretty much just a bunch of killing and shit...

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Better idea: "Good for the soul" by having a personal selection of books in each room

The Ceilidh Place is different. All our rooms provide a comfortable space to rest and bide your time. Our nomination for being "Good for the soul" didn't make us blush, but it did tickle us to think someone noticed. All those guests. All those grins.

What differentiates the rooms is the spirit each one posesses and this is reflected in the selection of books that can be found in each of the rooms. Separate famous people ( to us ) kindly chose some books they felt good about. They each gave us a list. We bought their books. Each room got a famous person's choice.

Browse the lists and when you find one that interests you or you feel comfortable with. That may be the room for you. Call and talk to us.

http://ceilidhplace.com/ceilidhplace/main.asp?idDept=2&idProduct=4

[DeSwiss]

6. Seems quite peaceful and interesting.

- I suppose one would have to bring their own young women wearing pink lingerie though...

[knitter4democracy]

7. What a wonderful idea! I think this should be done everywhere.

That way, people can't get offended by the Gideons and their Bibles.