The Gideon Bible, ever present at the bedside, is the most redundant feature of modern hotel rooms and the Gideons` mission of `distributing the Bible in the human traffic lanes of everyday life` would be better achieved via www.gideons.org and a broadband Internet connection, according to new research among British travellers published today. 

The call for the modernisation of hotel rooms was made by over 500 business travellers questioned by Expedia, whose 9.4 million bookings last year made it the biggest online seller of hotel rooms in the world.

The least useful items traditionally found in hotel rooms were: Bibles(37%),shower caps(22%),sweets on the pillow(18%),trouser presses (10%)

Travellers would prefer to see the following modern essentials: Internet connections(42%), phone and laptop chargers(16%), work stations and ergonomic chairs(14%), printers, photocopiers and fax machines(12%)
London, Manchester and Birmingham were named as having the best modern hotel facilities in the UK, ranking higher than world cities such as New York, Hong Kong and Paris.  But almost three quarters (70%) of travellers feel that they are penalised by unreasonably high rates in hotels with modern facilities.

But the ambivalence to Bibles in the bedside drawer doesn`t mean UK travellers are devoid of morals - just 2% were interested in the provision of adult TV channels.

Dermot Halpin, managing director of Expedia.co.uk commented, “As the world leader in online hotel bookings our mission is to offer hotels that cater for all tastes and requirements.  Ideally we`d like to see the best of both worlds, with genuine needs such as Internet connections complemented by nice touches like sweets on the pillow.”

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