Now in the twenty-first century, Bibles are increasingly missing from hotel rooms and are replaced by other comforts such as an iPod docking station, a flat-screen TV, a selection of underground music, a complimentary goldfish, or in some an 'intimacy' kit.
In the trendy New York City Soho Grand Hotel, for example, Bibles have never been offered in guest rooms. According to Newsweek, the Sofitel hotel brand recently removed Bibles from guest rooms after clients questioned why other religious texts were not available.
"The absence of Gideons Bibles from an increasing number of hotel rooms tells us something about the secularisation, sexualisation, and extreme sensitivities of our age," Dr R Albert Mohler Jr, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, commented in his blog on hotels removing Bibles and adding other amenities.
"The fact is that many persons have come to faith in Jesus Christ by reading a Bible supplied to their hotel room by the Gideons," Mohler said. "Many others have turned to the Bible when in crisis. Some have even decided against suicide when they read from the Gideon's Bible.
"Are they now to look for salvation and solace from an iPod docking station or a goldfish?" the prominent theologian questioned.
Since 2001, the number of luxury hotels with religious materials in rooms has dropped by 18 per cent, according to the American Hotel and Lodging Association.
Mohler called the development a reminder of the "tremendous cultural" and "moral change" taking place in society.
In 2004, Hotel Preston underwent a makeover from a traditional Radisson hotel to a trendy boutique hotel that offers complimentary pet fish, rubber duckies, lava lamps and a pillow menu.
The hotel also recently held a provocative live art display which hired young women to take turns wearing pink lingerie and live in a glass mock hotel room in the corner of the hotel's cocktail lounge.
The spiritual menu will be launched in the next three to four weeks.
