Why does every hotel room come with a Bible? I know it can’t be a law but every hotel I’ve ever stayed in has had a Bible in it? Why does every hotel chain do this? Wouldn’t some of them be afraid of offending some of their guests? It can’t just be a US thing 'cause I’ve been to hotels in Australia & New Zealand and they had 'em too. In Quebec have their either French or bilingual. Do hotels other coutires do this? Do Muslim countriess hotels have copies of the Quran?
Various groups, notably the Gideons, provide Bibles to hotels. The idea is that it will provide guidance to the believer and possibly a kick towards conversion for the bored non-believing traveler. The Bible-providing groups have agreements with almost all hotel chains to put their books in every room – they provide the books; the chain ensures that they’re put in the rooms.
The bibles are put there by the Gideon Society, whose mission is to provide free bibles to hotels. Since they’re free, the hotels have no problem putting them in the room. I doubt they get any objections; the bibles are usually in a drawer and a committed atheist would have to search to find them. In addition, as private businesses, they can put whatever they like in their rooms.
Marriott hotels also have a copy of the Book of Mormon, since their founder was Mormon.
Well, I have stayed in several hotels in parts of Asia,
(Nikko Narita, Tokyo & The Landmark, Bangkok to name but two.)
And they contained the words of the Buddha, in two or more languages usually.
I brought one home with me, in fact, I had inquired at the desk where I could buy the book, it was really well presented, and they gifted it to me. How sweet and hospitable.
I have travelled in many Muslim countries but have never seen a Koran in a hotel room, but that may reflect that I was not staying in such upscale joints, as it happened.
AFAIK it’s usually not the hotels themselves that do this; members of missionary societies such as the Gideons undertake to distribute Bibles around in places such as hotel rooms.
[On preview: I see everybody else said it faster. Oh well, have an anecdote:]
(OT: I remember when I was a kid staying in a hotel with my family. I had vaguely heard of Gutenburg Bibles (from the early days of the printing press) and knew that they were very precious and rare. But I had somehow got the name Gutenburg mixed up with Gideon. You can imagine my surprise and delight when I opened a dresser drawer and made (as I briefly believed) bibliophile history!! :smack: 
Always retained a sneaking fondness for hotel-room Bibles on account of that incident.)
IIRC, the Koran gets considerably different treatment than the Bible. The Bible is just a book and is treated as such; but, I think the Koran itself is supposed to be treated in a fairly sacred manner. So apart from the fact that the Gideons probably wouldn’t give out Korans, leaving them in hotel rooms may not sufficiently guarantee proper treatment of the book.
BTW, there was another thread about Gideons’ bibles a while back. I emailed the Gideon society and the bibles are not there to be taken. If you find particular comfort from it and feel that you benefit from having it with you, then they understand and won’t hold a grudge for it. But generally speaking, they intend for it to stay in the hotel room for the next guest to enjoy as well.
I was in a hotel in Atlanta a few years ago–I think it was the W–and was surprised to find a hotel room without a Gideon’s Bible! They try to get all the hotels, but it’s a big world and a small organization.
I’ve also seen the Gideons hand out small copies of the New Testament on college campuses, so hotels aren’t the sum total of their focus.
Oh. Thanks! Are there any hotel chains that don’t keep 'em in the room?
The Gideons distributed copies of the New Testament and Psalms (or maybe it was just the Gospels and Psalms – it was a very small book) in my public school when I was in 5th grade. Parents were allowed to opt out, but I think most people ended up taking them. So that’s one thing they do besides putting Bibles in hotel rooms. (Their website says they also distribute Bibles to hospitals, shelters, prisons, and to police, firefighters, and the military. Homeless shelters get used copies.) Most of the Bibles I’ve seen in hotel rooms have been placed by the Gideons, but I do vaguely remember seeing a different version that either included the Book of Mormon or was accompanied by another book that contained it.
The Gideons have different versions of the Bible for different people. They are all King James Version or New KJV. Some have the New Testament only, the NT plus Psalms, or both testaments. The different versions probably have different sets of ‘where to look for help’ references corresponding to the problems that might be encountered by college students, police officers, soldiers, and so on.
elbows wrote
One thing you will see in many hotel rooms in Muslim countries: a small metal arrow pointing to Mecca, typically mounted on the desk in the room.
I actually work at a hotel, as does my boyfriend. He actually met the Gideons. They just come in, ask you to unlock all the empty rooms, put bibles in them and leave enough to put in the unoccupied rooms, plus an extra and one for the desk clerk to take home. None of the (mostly Hindu) hotel owners I know seem to mind. I think mostly they know that most people expect it and since it’s free there is no reason not to.
I only stayed in one hotel in India (I spent three months there) with a bible. It was a cheap hotel in the mUslim quarter of Chennei.
Um the hotel unlocked all the empty rooms and let the Gideon people go threw them? Or did y’all (the employees) do it? Wouldn’t that be an invitation to robbery if they were allowed into all the unoccupied rooms?
Anyone else now feel tempted to go swivel it round in the opposite direction before you leave?
And even sven, where’s Chenni? I’ve not heard of it and it’s not in my atlas
Hypothetical: If the Scientologists tried to get Dianetics into hotel rooms, and the hotel refused, would they have any rights under the law to force the hotel to accept their book? Assume that they are not trying to replace the Bible with Dianetics, they just want their book there too. Could such a group force the Gideons out of business? And for that matter, what’s stopping a hard-line member of another faith (or an atheist) from suing a hotel based on “religious persecution”? I don’t think a private establishment putting a hotel in a nightstand is persecution, but I’m surprised this hasn’t been challenged in the courts given our litigious society.
(P.S. This could apply to any religious group, but I chose the Scientologists because AFAIK they don’t have any sacred rules involving how their book should be handled.)
It may not be persecution, but it’s definitely gobbledegook. What are you on? :wally
It’s just a very small hotel. Or a very large nightstand. Okay, who am I kidding, :smack:
Evensven’s boyfriend sez:
Well, there isn’t a lot to steal in an unoccupied room – it’s not like they had Bibles in them. I guess they could’ve lifted a TV, but I would’ve seen them loading it into their car.
Keep in mind, also, that in this case the Gideons were represented by two very nice elderly men, and that it wasn’t a very good hotel (only eighteen rooms or so, which made things simpler), and that I wasn’t a very good desk clerk.
I think Hadrian0117 thought that by unoccupied or empty, you meant rooms that people had checked into, but weren’t in at the time, leaving their luggage and personal belongings in there.
No. The Gideons don’t have any right to have it there either, it’s only there because the hotel agrees.