1. How often do you stay in hotels? What differences do you think there are between a hotel room in your country and a British one?
2. How do you stay entertained when staying at a hotel? Do you watch the hotel's cable TV, surf the internet, or read a book you have brought? Would you consider reading the in-house hotel magazine? What else is there to read in a hotel room?
3. What would be a dealbreaker for you in booking a stay in a hotel? What missing element would cause you to choose a different hotel?
4. Have you ever read the Bible? Is religious education part of the school curriculum in your country? Is it in the UK, do you think?
Read article here: Hotel Bible Reading
5. What is your reaction? Were you aware that most UK/US/AUS/CAN hotels had bibles in their rooms? Do you think having some sort of spiritual text is a good thing for tired, lonely travellers? Do hotels in your country have bibles in rooms?
6. How do you feel about them being removed? Hotels are , in principle, designed for the international traveller - doesn't the move to remove them reflect that we now live in a globalised, multi-faith world? What do you think of Travelodge's motives? Could their removal have been done differently?
7. Do you think the role of hotels has changed? Or is it their clientele that has changed? Which of the following statements do you agree with most:
a) 19th-century hotels fulfilled different functions compared to today's hotels.
b) Technology has rendered hard-copy books in hotel rooms unnecessary.
c) Religion is now a distant second to consumer leisure.
8. Is the Church of England right to be worried? If the tradition of bibles in rooms is to be no longer maintained, should there be a replacement, humanistic book/text as a replacement? Which one? (This could be an urban myth) Chinese hotels used to have a copy of Chairman Mao's 'Little Red book' in rooms - Do you know of any other ubiquitous texts/books used in a similar manner?
9. What is the attitude of the author of the article towards this change? How do you know? Where on the political spectrum is the Daily Mail? Is the focus of the article right? Or is it just more ammunition for the 'culture wars'?
10. Would you ever read the bible, not as a religious text, but as a good history book, containing useful knowledge on ethics and the human experience? If you have read it, which chapters are the most approachable/relevant for today?
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Situation
You are present at the Travelodge board meeting which decided to remove bibles from rooms. Your teacher is the Travelodge CEO; you are a board member who is either for or against the proposal (you decide). Make the case for your point of view.
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Discuss quotes
"Hotel rooms inhabit a separate moral universe."
--- Tom Stoppard
"A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education."
--- Theodore Roosevelt
“Traditions have been replaced by lifestyles.”
― Lars Fr. H. Svendsen
“Tradition is a guide and not a jailer.”
― W. Somerset Maugham
Student Handout PDF: Hotel Bible
Photo: Matthias Zomer
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