Agree that checking in with a passport seems like a simple solution. Do hotels routinely mandate a state-issued ID if one tries to use a U.S. passport? I doubt that the hotel has access to the address on file in one's loyalty account, right?

There have been a lot of discussions about these policies on FlyerTalk. They are unfortunate but I suppose I have some empathy for the business decision that properties make. It seems like quite a heavy-handed solution to a problem that presumably only arises with a small minority of guests but, in America's highly litigious society, it's a way to avoid discrimination claims from people arbitrarily denied check-in.

If you were a hotel owner and felt compelled to institute such a policy, would you exempt travelers with elite status? This would seem like a good solution that would avoid discriminating against protected classes. It seems unlikely, though obviously not impossible, that a miscreant would have elite status (a hooker might have top-tier status in every hotel chain if she could convince her customers to book the rooms in her name), plus the property would theoretically be able to obtain more information about the identity of a customer with elite status once the customer committed a crime. I guess a sophisticated criminal would fake data in the rewards program. Interesting cost/benefit analysis for the hotel.