I know that most hotels in America require a credit card when you are paying for a room. is this also standard practise in Italy. in particular small towns like otranto?

I would have to say not true in Italy. I don't remember ever being asked for a credit card, in 2, 3 or 4 star hotels. They get your passport, I guess that's better security!

Hi do you mean that i have to surrender my passport for the duration of my stay?
plesae understand this is all new to me so i don't kow how it works.

They only want a copy of your passport. We also noticed a lot of places will give you a discount for paying in cash, rather than credit card.

I have paid cash at many hotels in Europe. They ususally give you a better price.

They only take your passport at first and give it back within an hour or so. The next day at the most.

You can usually pay your hotel with a credit card also if you like.

Is this your first trip to Italy? Where and when are you going?

As stated above, they only need your passport for a couple of hours max, depending on how busy they are. Often, they are slow to return it, don't be shy, if you're like me and prefer to have possession of it.
At times I've found that the cash "discount" is actually the rate I've been quoted, and the credit card rate is a bit higher. Of course this varies by hotel.

Who takes your passport??? I've been to France, Ireland and Amsterdam several times in the last few yrs and no hotel has EVER asked even to see my passport let alone take it!
Who does this and why? Is it specific to a certain country, like Italy for instance?
If they want to make a copy that's fine, but I'd be standing there waiting the few seconds that it would take to run a copy in order to get it back.
I pity the poor hotel clerk that would ask to take my passport out of my sight for a prolonged period of time..they'd certainly be in for a hell of a fight!

i have been asked for my passport in France, Italy, Holland, Sweden and Norway. No big deal.

Irishdame,

I think it's the Italian law, or at least that's what I've been told.

We rented apartments in Italy and I brought along copies of our passports, therefore, they never asked to see the original. They only wanted the copies for their records. I'm not comfortable turning mine over out of sight, either.

I've never been asked for the passport or copy anywhere else.

Sorry Janda, but to be it's a very big deal! An American passport is a coveted item these days and I'll be damned if I'm just gonna hand mine over to a clerk in a hotel then not see it for days!
Thanks Statia, I'll remember to pack a few extra copies next time I'm over there just in case.

Thank you all for he info. yes JandaO this will be my first trip to Italy. I will be going to Otranto in southern Italy. I will also be travelling alone so i am very nervous. any one know any good hotels in this area?
thanks

When checking in to a hotel in Venice, I offered copies of our passports. I was told they needed the original, which they kept for about 20 minutes.

I asked about paying with cash when checking out (to avoid VISA's 3% fee) and was immediately offered a discount for cash.

It is the law in Italy...they often will take the passport, make a photocopy of the first page, and then give it right back to you while you are completing the check-in process. Don't worry...nobody is going to try to steal it..and this also happens in other European countries as well.

The registration law is leftover from the good ole Mussolini days. Every traveler has to register with the local police station. So basically the hotels are doing the legwork for their guests.

Chill out irishdame, this is Italy we're talking about, not Liberia.

By Italian law, all visitors to a country must register with the local police. The reason the hotel takes your passport for a short time is that they register for you, using the details on your passport.

As to the original question - SOME hotels in Italy may require a credit card number when you make a reservation (to make sure you turn up! - they won't charge your card at this stage), but no hotel in the world would object to cash when you come to settle the bill.

Some small hotels (very small) might not take cards, and some small hotels may charge a small fee for card payments. You can always ask when making a booking.

I don't remember if they took our passports at the hotels in France, but they did in both Italy and Greece (keeping them anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours at the most). I was a little hesitant turning it over the first time, but had no problem after that.

Shak,
I looked up Otranto and it looks like a very interesting place. What made you decide to go to that area? Are you going to be able to see any other part of Italy this trip? I am traveling alone for the first time in Italy too and I feel perfectly safe. This will be my 3rd to Italy.

I've never had a hotel take my passport except maybe Greece and Egypt, but I haven't stayed in Italy. It isn't that American hotels require a credit card for room payment that I know of, they of course take cash or a debit card. They just want your CC number at checkin as guarantee for payment, so you can't leave without paying, I thought.

We turned over our passports at every place we stayed in ITaly, some gave it right back, others said come back later, one kept it over night. I think they have to register you that way for security reasons (I read once they have those docs for the police if asked). It's not a big deal. We used a cred card at most places but got 5-10% off if paying cash.

Every place that we stayed at in Spain asked for a passport at check in. The passport was returned right away. I was told the hotel is required to let the local police know about foreigners staying with them. I have no idea why they do this but it was no big deal. Oddly (to me) they did not ask for the credit card at check in.