The presence of the Gideons Bible in the nightstand near the bead has been a common thing in many hotels for years. However, our world develops and things go high-tech, and the Bible is no exception. The newly opened Hotel Indigo in Newcastle has not neglected this tradition. It still provides the Bible for its visitors, but in a new and unusual form.
From now all visitors can read the most famous book in the world using a Kindle device with the e-book version of the Bible. As London’s Telegraph mentions, visitors of the hotel can also add any other religious book to the reader – this will cost them less than £5. As Kindle is known as a fast and convenient way to purchase e-books, visitors are also welcome to purchase and download many fiction books. The cost of their purchases will be added to the total bill.
The use of the electronic Bible is just a trial and is currently available in one Indigo Hotel. The hotel’s management will carefully record visitors’ feedbacks, and will make the final decision whether to spread these e-Bibles to other hotels of the chain.
According to the general manager of the hotel, it was Newcastle’s literary heritage that inspired them to add e-book readers. The city is a famous publishing destination and is home to the second largest independent library in the UK, which stores as many as more than 150,000 books.
Gideons International is a US organization, the main aim of which is to distribute free copies of the Bible. Often the Bibles are brought to hotel rooms. The Christian organization distributed almost 80 million copies of the Bible in 2011.