Brooklyn Holiday Inn to accept payment via Bitcoin

International travelers visiting the Big Apple will soon be able to leave their credit cards at home.

Guests at the Brooklyn Holiday Inn at 625 Union Street will soon be able to pay for their stay with Bitcoin. Founding member of the Bitcoin foundation and former vice chairman Charlie Shrem, who was indicted earlier this year for allegedly funneling money to online market place Silk Road, is introducing a pilot program that will enable guests to pay for their hotel stays with the virtual currency. The program aims to make payment easier for international travelers and is supposed to reduce chargeback risk on European credit cards.

Holiday Inn guests can make a Bitcoin reservation online, in person or over the phone. The hotel will then convert a percentage of the sales from Bitcoin to U.S. dollars to cover some expenses, but it intends on keeping a Bitcoin reserve as well, Shrem said in prior interviews.

“I think Bitcoin investing is becoming to this generation what real estate investing used to be,” Tim Chang, an investment banker who also helps run a Bitcoin management fund, told Fortune. “But it’s a lot more unusual than real estate, so we’re helping people understand, manage and secure it.” [Realty Today] – Claire Moses