One Hotel I'd Boycott

Last week Erika Ritter was sitting in for Tom Allen on Music and Company. She told the story of a hotel in Germany that charged people according to their weight. I was astonished, so I did a Google search, and sure enough, I found a Reuters article titled "German Hotel Charges Guests By the Kilo". The story says, "In the town of Norden, close to the Dutch border, guests now have to step onto the scales before moving into their rooms and fork out half a euro (35 pence) per kilogram (2.2 lbs)." The owner of the three-star hotel gives as his reason for doing this that he wants people to become healthy, the implication being that if their weight is publicly brought to their attention, they will change their ways. I don't know—I consider this to be a shocking invasion of privacy and an insensitive gimmick. The owner says that he will never charge more than a standard night's rate for a single room. Yippee for him.