A BIBLE IN YOUR ROOM?
Whenever I travel, I always look in the bedside drawer to see if there’s a Bible. I can’t remember not seeing one. But last week there was an article on MSN news, saying: “If Rocky Raccoon were to check into his room today, there’s a lesser chance that he would find Gideon’s Bible. Bibles are disappearing from hotel drawers around the country, according to a survey from STR, a hospitality analytics company.” After they took prayer and the Ten Commandments out of schools here in the US, there was an increase in school killings. I don’t want the same thing to happen around the country with the hotels, the places people go for vacations.
The article went on to say: “Over the past decade, about 15 percent of hotels have stopped providing in-room religious materials. In 2006, almost every single hotel (95 percent) put a Bible in their bedside drawer. Today that number is only 79 percent. Most major hotel franchises allow individual hotel owners to decide whether or not to stock their drawers with religious scripture. And as more hotel chains aim to attract Millennial travelers, they are taking Bibles out of their rooms.
“When Marriott opened its new Moxy and Edition hotels, they decided they wouldn’t put religious books in the room because the ‘books don’t fit the personality of the brands,’ a spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times. Millennials are the least religious generation in American history. They’re also one of the most highly-targeted marketing demographics.”
After reading this, I decided to call ten of our local Hotel/Casinos and ask if they had Bibles in their guest rooms. I got some interesting answers. One fellow said no one ever asked him that question. He assumed the Bibles were there, but he wasn’t sure. He called a couple of different departments and found to his surprise that they weren’t in the room, but you could call down, and they would get you one. He sounded a little sad.
Another hotel gave me the same answer. Ten out of ten calls and not one person could answer me on the first try. Every one of the people who answered the phone at either reservations or the concierge had to call somewhere else to find out if they had Bibles in the rooms or if they didn’t.
I was happy to find out that seven out of the ten Hotel/Casinos here in Vegas said yes to my question; they do have Bibles in the guest rooms.
So as the traveling season is upon us, you may want to consider this as you choose where you want to stay. And if you choose to stay in one of the hotels or motels who decided that offering Bibles “doesn’t fit the personality of their brand,” God still loves you.
The MSN article tells us: “There’s a new, Millennial-focused amenity that comes standard: about 98 percent of hotels now offer in-room Wi-Fi. So those that miss the bedside Bible can now instead browse a digital version of whichever scripture they prefer.”
Love, Carolyn
You can read one my books or booklets on one of your devices, as well J.
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