A couple of guidebooks have indicated that some hotels may hold your passport during your stay. Is this true or just misinformation?

Depending where you are, <BR>Some hotels may request your passport but you are never under (legal) obligation to hand over your passport to a hotel. I usually bring several copies of my passport for that (and other reasons) when I travel... <BR>I have been asked as much though. Seems like both hostels and one place in Berlin...) <BR>Personally, prefer to keep my passport on me at most times.

I've never had a hotel keep my passport for the duration of my stay. <BR> <BR>Some countries (e.g. Italy) require you to register with the police when you arrive. (!) Your hotel normally takes care of this for you ... borrowing your passport when you check in to copy the required info for submission to the authorities. It's normally returned to you quite promptly.

In Macedonia the hotel keeps the passport to make sure you pay for your stay. Some of them will waive that requirement of you give them a credit card number. I had a rather *nasty* experience last time in Skopje ,at a small hotel I wouldn't recommend in any case, where they wouldn't give me back my passport until they checked the room to make sure I hadn't absconded with its rather feeble amenities. <BR>

Yes, S.Fowler. <BR> <BR>I believe that you're right about just registering passport number/info in certain hotels. Also, about giving a credit card number in lieu of, or along with... <BR>Sometimes, just the flash of a passport is all that's needed. <BR> <BR>Either way, I've also, definetly, had to turn over my passport for a day (that is, I used my intuition and chose to...) in a couple hostels in Switzerland... I imagine for some of the reasons you sited.