<response to deleted post>
Originally Posted by
Leviticus
Although still much better than places like Iran where they are legally required to hold on to your passport while staying in the hotel
I've been in a few places like this and wondered, what do you do if the police stop you and ask for your passport? Which is quite normal in some places. In Slovenia I was stopped several times (though I had my passport). In Argentina we were told to be expected to be escorted back to the hotel. Or we could pass a bribe. After this thread I'm starting to think that I just look suspicious.
Transiting through LHR security would always remark that my name sounded really Irish and that I was coincidentally selected for random screening. Heh. Multiple times on the same connection... On every one of my LHR connections.