Hotel In Britain Replaces Bible With Kindle

Indigo Hotel in Newcastle, England is replacing bedside bibles with Kindles, in an effort to be more religious-friendly as part of a pilot program designed by the InterContinental Hotels Group, who seeks to modernize religious tones at bedside tables.

CNN reports that Gideons International distributed over 84 million Bibles around the world to students, hospitals, members of the military, and hotels, but now these paper tomes may be replaced with the Kindle e-reader. The Hotel Indigo, where the pilot program is taking place, will be outfitted with 148 Kindle Touch with Wi-Fi devices, one for each room.

Using the e-readers, guests will be able to read their Bibles, or any other religious books available on the Amazon Kindle store, as long as the cost doesn’t exceed more than $7.50, reports Gizmodo. If you’re not interested in religious texts, you can download other e-books, but you’ll have to pay for those.

Gizmodo reports that Adam Munday, the hotel’s general manager, explained that the idea for the Kindle e-readers was inspired by Newcastle’s literary heritage. He stated:

“In the 18th Century, Newcastle was one of the largest print centers in Britain and we’re in Grainger Town, close to the Literary and Philosophical Society. We wanted to reflect this literary history in a very contemporary way, so are offering guests the use of cutting-edge Kindles pre-loaded with The Bible, instead of the more traditional hardcopy Gideon’s Bible that they would expect to find in a hotel.”

CNN reports that Ken Stephens, spokesman for Gideon, stated:

“Anything to put the Bible in people’s hands is a good thing. It is a fascinating idea, and I’m sure somehow, some way, its time will come for us. But right now just the paper version is the best for what we do.”

What do you think of Hotel Indigo switching from paper bibles to Kindle e-readers for their guests?