Can one refuse to give passport away at hotel check-in?

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marco2009

Registered Users (C)
I am curious about hotel procedures abroad at check-in. What is the standard procedure in EU countries? Is it legal for hotel desk clerks to keep guest passports in possession at hotel reception desk? Can one refuse to give passport away?
 
You can pay for it ahead of time, and that way they won't have any reason to keep your passport as collateral.
 
I would absolutely never leave my passport with a hotel reception desk, though I have on occasion been asked to and have simply refused.

A passport is not your property - it belongs to the issuing authority. Therefore, it is not yours to leave and collateral and, conversely, no one should try to take it as collateral or security.
 
I've not been asked for it, either. However, passports ARE taken by authorities on many occasions. If, for example, you are accused of a crime, your passport is often taken away from you temporarily if you are seen to be a flight risk.
 
I think the hotels in EU offer it as a courtesy - to safely keep in their locker for the duration of the stay, since they don't provide lockers in the hotel rooms.
 
It depends on the country. In some countries, hotel guests need to be registered with authorities if they are staying longer than a day or so, and the hotel does the registration for the guest, hence the need for a passport or other ID.
 
cafeconleche said:
I've not been asked for it, either. However, passports ARE taken by authorities on many occasions. If, for example, you are accused of a crime, your passport is often taken away from you temporarily if you are seen to be a flight risk.
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Yes - "authorities" can take your passport but a hotel reception desk hardly falls into this category.

There is an interesting article about the security implications of leaving your passport at http://www.hbosplc.com/media/pressreleases/articles/halifax/2006-09-01-01.asp?section=Halifax. Note the line: "To our knowledge there is no legal requirement in any country that makes it mandatory for a guest to physically leave their passport with a hotel reception.".
 
natur08 said:
It depends on the country. In some countries, hotel guests need to be registered with authorities if they are staying longer than a day or so, and the hotel does the registration for the guest, hence the need for a passport or other ID.
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Yes, in that case (hotels in Italy for example), they make a copy, and keep a copy, not the actual passport
 
harvydonald said:
Yes, in that case (hotels in Italy for example), they make a copy, and keep a copy, not the actual passport
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I have actually experienced in Italy that they were quite insistent on keeping my (German) passport, even as recently as last year. I am not sure whether they have the right to do so, given that the authorities may want to see the document rather than just the information on a copy. Usually, they return the passport after a day or so.

In several Eastern European countries (and on a cruise in Greece with a port call in Turkey), they insisted on keeping the passport until checkout.
 
natur08 said:
I have actually experienced in Italy that they were quite insistent on keeping my (German) passport, even as recently as last year. I am not sure whether they have the right to do so, given that the authorities may want to see the document rather than just the information on a copy. Usually, they return the passport after a day or so.

In several Eastern European countries (and on a cruise in Greece with a port call in Turkey), they insisted on keeping the passport until checkout.
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I've experienced that in Italy a few times too. However, a polite "No" always works. If the authorities need to review the document in person then they know what room I'm in.
 
harvydonald said:
Yes, in that case (hotels in Italy for example), they make a copy, and keep a copy, not the actual passport
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I've also only ever had it copied, not kept, by hotels in Europe. I understood it was for Interpol purposes. (Actually, the hotel copy was super useful for me when my bag got stolen in Spain.)
 
It is a common practice in Dubai for some hotels to retain guests' passports for the duration of their stay. They issue you a receipt for the passport, and this receipt is accepted by other authorities that you are in the country legally. I have always got my passport back at the time of checkout.

Also, on one of my Dubai trips, which was supposed to be a one-night transit, the Immigration took my passport at the airport and gave it back to me the next day when I returned to the airport to catch another flight.
 
I have had numerous short stays, 6-16 hours in Dubai, where Emirates gave me a room in a hotel. I always had to pass through passport control and my passport was stamped upon entry and exit but my passport was never retained. Mind if I ask you what citizenship you have?

prithis said:
Also, on one of my Dubai trips, which was supposed to be a one-night transit, the Immigration took my passport at the airport and gave it back to me the next day when I returned to the airport to catch another flight.
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It IS beautiful here in the USA where foreigners don't have to wear their passports on their sleeves all the time... or take permission from the US government before traveling from NYC to LA! An American visa is a visa!! No 1-city or 2-city restricted visa nonsense.
I hope other countries grow up and imitate THIS aspect of USA as opposed to imitating USA in only selective ways :)

ps - Pls don't give me the Mexican/Canadian border area argument where people sometimes get briefly stopped. We all know why that happens and it's not that frequent either.
 
Were you paying cash at the end of your stay? Thats about the only reason I can see why they would keep it
 
TheRealist said:
It IS beautiful here in the USA where foreigners don't have to wear their passports on their sleeves all the time... or take permission from the US government before traveling from NYC to LA! An American visa is a visa!! No 1-city or 2-city restricted visa nonsense.
I hope other countries grow up and imitate THIS aspect of USA as opposed to imitating USA in only selective ways :)

ps - Pls don't give me the Mexican/Canadian border area argument where people sometimes get briefly stopped. We all know why that happens and it's not that frequent either.
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As far as I know, only India does that kind of stupid thing and give 1-City or 2-City visa. No other country (developed) does that stupidity. All EU countries, Japan, Latin American or other country I know, issue visas for whole country
 
aero_ir said:
As far as I know, only India does that kind of stupid thing and give 1-City or 2-City visa. No other country (developed) does that stupidity. All EU countries, Japan, Latin American or other country I know, issue visas for whole country
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How did you forget Pakistan and China, even bigger offenders? I assume Bangladesh does it too and I am sure there are others. Actually, India's rules are probably the most 'tolerable' of all such countries. There are far worse things done by some other countries such as mentioning of one's religion (!!) on their passport or requiring government permission (even of its own citizens!) before they move from one city to another. These countries are not developed, just wannabes.
 
What's the point of issuing a 1-city visa in the case of India, for example? I know that Russia has an "internal passport" which differs from an "international passport." :rolleyes:
 
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