Originally Posted by
GUWonder
That is a sweeping generalization that is not representative of the legal requirements across the entire Schengen zone. I've checked into four hotels across two Schengen countries in the past several days, and there is no legal requirement for those hotels to verify and record the identity and nationality of all guests.
Even in Italy, they don't verify and record the identity and nationality of all guests on premises. Young Italian minors are hotel guests too, and they don't all have national ID/passports. Where is the Italian law that says that all Italian minors who are hotel guests must also submit national ID/passports? Legally, the Italian hotels do verify/record my passport info, but then I'm an adult US visitor at an Italian hotel and not an Italian minor at an Italian hotel.
Here is the Schengen treaty text:
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedo....ACQUIS-EN.pdf
Where exactly in there should we all be looking for this legal requirement of the Schengen treaty applicable to hotels? Title II Article 19. But then you have to actually go and look at what each of the separate Schengen countries have done and not done, as not all of them have done the same thing. Strictly speaking, Title II Article 19 is not applicable to hotels.
Challenge accepted:
Title III, Article 45
The Contracting Parties undertake to take the measures required to guarantee that. :
a. the managers of establishments providing lodging or their employees ensure
that aliens accommodated therein, including nationals of the other Contracting
Parties as well as those of other Member States of the European Communities,
with the exception of accompanying spouses or minors or members of travel
groups, personally complete and sign declaration forms and confirm their
identity by the production of a valid identity document;
b. the declaration forms thus completed will be kept for the competent
authorities or forwarded to them where such authorities deem this necessary
for the prevention of threats, for criminal proceedings or to ascertain what has
happened to persons who have disappeared or who have been the victim of an
accident, save where national law provides otherwise.
Members of tour groups, and spouses/minor children of the primary guest may be exempt, but everyone else must ID up.
Now, admittedly, the Schengen treaty is a requirement on the Member States themselves, and not on hotel guests or even on the hotels. So it's possible that the actual law still varies a little from country to country. Regardless, the Schengen treaty is binding, and I would not assume that any country is not legally in full compliance with Schengen (especially now with the refugee crisis)