Originally Posted by
miamiflyer8
While on the topic, I had an interesting experience in Istanbul at a Holiday Inn. Upon check in, my Georgia drivers license was fine, no demand for a passport nor were copies made. Meanwhile, I saw the receptionist have a bunch of copies of guest's passports from different places from the Middle East. I guess they judge by "High Risk" countries...
Isn't it a government requirement there that details from the foreign visitors' passports be recorded/copied for police access?
In many places, if the guests are paying with cash, then the hotels become much more eager to get their hands on the foreign guests' passports even when not required by the government to do so.