Originally Posted by
Up In The Air
Leaving the moral issues aside, what you're thinking of doing is illegal: For 'homeland security' reasons, all hotels in Italy have an obligation to communicate the names and passport / ID card details of all guests staying in their establishment to the Carabinieri – so by not declaring an additional person you would certainly be committing a criminal offense. Also, all hotels in Rome now collect a daily tourist tax payable by all guests, which is passed-on to the city administration – so by sneaking-in a non-paying guest you'll be committing your second criminal offence. As you would also be stealing from the hotel, if you get found out, you should be in no doubt that the Carabinieri would be called – so if you go-ahead with your plan, don't be at all surprised if you get a rap on the door from a couple of uniformed officers carrying pistols.
bdemaria is absolutely correct, and the cost of an additional person would not normally cost the earth. You may have to pay a small supplement for the upgrade to a room with the extra bed / sofa bed; and for the extra breakfast and tourist tax.
… and 'not leaving the moral issues aside' – (and I hope I'm not contravening FT etiquette guidelines here) – if you try it on and get found out, you probably deserve to pay the consequences.
It is most certainly not a criminal offense: not reporting one's guest identity to the questura (not the carabinieri…) is a very minor administrative offense punishable with a fine (of course, in the event the unreported guest is not a fugitive from justice or an illegal immigrant, in which case failure could be a serious criminal offense).
The municipal tourist taxes are levied on the hotel, not the guests, so by not declaring a guest one is not committing tax evasion. Just because hotels pass-on cost of the tax to consumers it doesn't mean that guests are liable to pay for it.
And, if you do decide not to report your guest and get caught by the hotel staff, I would not expect any carabinieri being called. Front Desk will just ask for your friend's passport details and charge the extra guest fee to your room folio, unless you're exceeding room capacity, in which case they will ask him to leave.