Originally Posted by
EuropeanPete
Hotels will generally accept ID instead of a passport unless it's one of those countries where they take a photocopy for registration, etc. I'm not massively amused that Arne has said that it's about "convenience" when it's obviously not about convenience at all - As Marriott never checks that your passport is still up to date, it will never use that information in a way which improves convenience. As a European, we take data privacy and usage a bit more seriously, and that's really unacceptable from a CEO.
Originally Posted by
escape4
I even wonder how many hotels would insist on a passport if you provide another form of ID? Going forward I wonder if I should test it by providing another ID and see what happens.
So I screwed up on my name change after marriage and have different name for my passport & drivers license (w/ my Marriott account under new name... dumb move esp given that i can easily check-in with global entry).
But here's what I found.
HK - accepts US drivers license
UK - accepts US drivers license
Aus - accepts US drivers license
Korea - accepts US drivers license
Israel - requires passport
China - requires passport
Japan - requires passport
Originally Posted by
margarita girl
I'm pretty sure Chinese hotels won't/can't let you check in without a passport. I was on a group tour (my one and only time) years ago, and a family had a shoulder bag stolen with their passports and a load of cash (which they were taking to an orphanage where they had adopted their daughter from). The tour guides were trying to figure out how they were going to even be able to get them a hotel room until they got replacement passports.
Originally Posted by
escape4
So let's say I visit country XYZ, upon check-in I hand over my driver's license and when they insist I must show my passport, I answer that I left it at a friend's house several hundred miles away in that same country. Can they refuse me a room just because I do not have my passport? I understand hotels and immigration might prefer to have my passport as ID, but I have never heard that it is an absolute necessity otherwise I cannot stay in the hotel. But I have never tested this - maybe I should.
Originally Posted by
allset2travel
That had been my experience in China. Even in a non-Marriott hotel. A B&B in the sticks needs my passport!
At all Marriotts in China (those I spent nights at, they scanned my passport, They do same no matter how many times I had stayed at that particular hotel!
Because you are required to register with the office of public safety within 24 hours. Hotels take care of that for you. If you stay at a private residence, you have to visit the local office and register yourself. No passport = no hotel.