In Lieu of Bibles, Hotel Stocks Nightstands with Fifty Shades of Grey
One British hotel has decided to do away with the traditional bedside Gideon Bibles — and replace them with complimentary copies of mommy porn book Fifty Shades of Grey.
Located in The Lakes region of North West England, Damson Dene Hotel boasts spectacular views of the surrounding district and is best known for providing the backdrop for Channel 4's "fly-on-the-wall" documentary series The Hotel. It was also once owned by a Methodist group.
On his personal blog, owner Jonathan Denby elaborated on the establishment's controversial switcheroo:
Tonight millions of women will be curling up in bed with a good book and you can bet your life it won't be the Bible. More likely than not it will be Fifty Shades of Grey. I haven't read the book yet – I'm not in the target audience – but I'm told it's a ripping good yarn and everyone who's in the target audience loves it. This made me wonder about the sense of providing a book, the Gideon Bible which noone reads, and many dislike, in the bedside cabinet of our hotel bedrooms, instead of a book which everyone wants to read, such as Fifty Shades of Grey.
Denby told NBC News he considered other books a bible substitutes — including Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged — before settling on E. L. James' Twilight-fanfic-turned-bestseller.
The hotel has received a few angry emails concerning the surprising swap, so, in the name of accommodation, Denby has left a few bibles behind the reception desk for guests who prefer scripture to sadomasochism.
[image via AP]