emlougal

We've decided to stay at Azania Bungalows in Puerto Viejo for our trip in early September. They are wanting my passport number to confirm the reservation. Is this standard protocol in Costa Rica?

For some reason it just makes me nervous and I can't think of why they would need that information when they already have my credit card number.

Any similar experiences or am I just being paranoid?

sandyc

Yes, many hotels in CR have asked for my passport number at check in, and even some of the canopy tours have asked for it.

Sandy

sandyc

p.s. I think the passport number has more to do with immigration and making sure you are in the country legally. I don't know if the hotels check the numbers, but they may have to keep a record of them. This has been more common over the last year. I don't remember being asked for it when I first started going to CR.

Sandy

Dewford

Hola !

Some hotels ask for passport numbers if they have to charge the credit card in advance and the cardholder is not present. Also, passport is require at check in at the hotels, because there is a monthly report to the ICT (Costa Rican Tourism Bureau) and inmigration that is submit at the end of the month.

shillmac

We are staying there in July. I remember their requesting my passport number. Other hotels in CR have done this as well, and I don't think it is all that unusual. I wouldn't worry about it. When you get there, you'll need to give your passport number a lot--probably every hotel where you stay and every activity you sign up for. Enjoy your trip--September will be a good month for the PV area!

Ally1

Dewford is correct....as are all other responses. But specifically, we ask for passport numbers for reporting to the ICT.

Ryberg

Passports are the officially established and agreed upon norm for identification in international travel, even more than a driver's license is the norm for Americans in the U.S., for example.

Given that, I think if anything it makes even more sense for a hotel to ask you for your passport number when you make a reservation than it does for some local merchant to ask for your driver's license number when you purchase something by check, for example.

Furthermore the hotel (unlike the local merchant) can be held responsible by local authorities for failure to propery confirm the identity of its guests in the event that a crime is committed in the hotel. (This is an important aspect of a recent, very high-profile murder case here in Mexico: the hotel didn't get proper identification at check-in of some guests who are/were key suspects in the crime.)

Considering both these reasons, as well as perhaps other reporting requirements, it seems perfectly appropriate for a hotel to request your passport number, and in fact might be more surprising if they didn't.

Steve