Hi everyone: Made hotel reservation for Toledo in April. We were asked for our passport number. Please inform me if this is normal procedure as it was never requested before. Thanks.<BR>Gail

I am very suspect of the fact you were asked for this information. I don't see how anyone needs to know your passport number -- if the hotel has to register you with the local authorities (as in Italy), they can get your number when you arrive. But before, no way! Be very prudent or contact the Spanish embassy in Washington DC or a Spanish consulate in another US city.

Thanks for the advice. Figured it didn*t sound too normal.

I'm genuinely curious as to what you suspect they could do with just the number in advance.<BR>As you know when you get there they'll have a record of it anyway.

<BR>I would suggest you to contact the Hotel Manager and ask him why they do this. He/she will probably give you a better explanation than the front desk or reservations staff would.<BR><BR>Working for the hotel industry myself, I can tell you it´s not a common practice in Spain. We are required by law to ask one passport per person upon arrival to record the main details on a sheet for the Police department, although most hotels only ask for one passport per room because it´s very time consuming and inconvenient for the guest.<BR><BR>The only reason I can think for them doing it is to protect themselves and their guests from credit card fraud when they ask for a credit card guarantee.

Hello Elaine: I know that they require the passport #. I do prefer giving it to them myself. Never been asked for this before<BR><BR>Hello Olga: Thanks for the informatio.We will be asking the hotel manager.Then if the question of the passport is mentioned again we will be informed of the reason.

I've never heard of this before. I know that in Italy hotels request your passport when you check-in and hold it for around an hour or so-they need to register the guests with the police station.

Regarding the question about what someone could do with the passport number in advance. Well, if it was a dishonest employee he could be working with someone who will then produce a fake passport for that guest, and when that guest is in town, use it to withdraw the items from a safe deposit box or cash fraudulent checks, the employee being a willing partner in the operation, but with the safeguard that the &quot;guest&quot; had shown his passport.