No More Nightstand Bibles for TN Hotel.
The Hotel Preston, located near the Nashville Airport, has decided to do away with the traditional nightstand Bibles. Instead guests will be offered a variety of different texts they can request from a “Spiritual Menu” and have delivered to their rooms.
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.
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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.
A team of Provenance managers came up with the spiritual menu’s lineup, Nishioka said, which will feature the King James Version of the Bible and the New American Bible, the Torah, the Quran, the Tao Te Ching, The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, the Book of Mormon, books on Scientology and Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu text.
“We’ve only had positive feedback because we’ve included the Bible and we’ve actually added on to it to have two versions. I think we’ve made everybody happy,” she said.
Joe McInerney, president and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, said this is the first time he has heard of a spiritual menu, but he thinks Hotel Preston’s managers made a good business decision.
“If they want to be ecumenical, that’s a great way to do it,” McInerney said. “It’s taking a positive look at a thing that has been commonplace. What could be wrong with it if they’re providing an opportunity for all religions to read their scripture?”
I like this idea and I hope it catches on. Diversity and choices are a wonderful idea. Hopefully in the future they may even decide to offer some reading options for non-believers
