The quickest way to lose a room you've already paid for is to arrive without the right piece of plastic. It happens more than you'd think, usually to people who booked with one name, travelled on a document with another, and assumed the confirmation email was the thing that mattered.

It isn't. Here's what hotels actually require at check-in in 2026, why the rules differ by country, and the specific situations where people get turned away.

The baseline, everywhere

Nearly every hotel in the world asks for two things at check-in. A valid government-issued photo ID, and a payment card in the name of the person checking in.

The ID has to satisfy three conditions. It must be unexpired, it must carry a photograph, and the name on it must match the name on the reservation. That third condition causes most of the trouble, because booking sites autofill nicknames and travel agents shorten names, and a reservation for "Mike Chen" against a passport reading "Michael Chen" is fine at most desks and a problem at a few.

Almost no hotel accepts a photograph of your passport on your phone. Digital ID wallets are being accepted in a slowly growing number of US states for domestic guests, but the default assumption should be that you need the physical document in your hand.

What counts as acceptable ID

The standard list, in rough order of how universally it's accepted.

Passport. Works everywhere, for everyone, in every country. If you carry nothing else, carry this.

National ID card. Accepted across the EU and in most countries that issue them, for both residents and visitors from other issuing countries.

Driving licence. Reliable for domestic stays in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia. Much less reliable abroad, because desk staff can't verify a foreign licence format and many local registration laws don't recognise it as identity.

Military ID. Generally accepted domestically in its issuing country.

State or provincial ID card. Fine domestically. Not for international stays.

Student cards, work badges and library cards are not identity documents. Some budget properties will take them as a secondary document alongside a primary one. None will take them alone.

Why abroad is different, and stricter

This is the part travellers underestimate. In much of the world, hotels are legally required to record and report guest details to police or immigration authorities, and the required field is a passport number.

Spain, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Thailand, Japan, India, the UAE and China all operate some version of this. The hotel isn't being difficult. It's filing a return, and a driving licence does not populate the field it needs to fill. In Spain and Italy the reporting is same-day, which is why desks in those countries scan the document rather than glance at it.

The practical rule is simple. In your home country, a driving licence or national ID card is usually enough. Outside it, bring the passport, regardless of what the confirmation email says the minimum is.

Where people actually get stuck

Someone else paid for the room. If your employer, a parent or a friend booked and paid with their card, the hotel may require a third-party authorisation form signed by the cardholder, sometimes with a copy of their ID. Sort this before arrival rather than at 11pm at the desk.

The card is in a different name from the ID. A shared account card with your partner's name on it is a common failure. Bring a card in your own name for the incidental hold even if the room is prepaid.

Recent name change. If you've married or changed your name and your booking uses the new one while your passport still shows the old one, carry the marriage certificate or deed poll. Airlines are strict about this and hotels increasingly follow.

You're under the minimum age. Most chains set 18 as the minimum age to check in, but a meaningful number of US properties and most car-adjacent budget brands set 21, and some resort destinations set 25. This is on the property page, usually in the fine print near the cancellation policy. Check it if anyone in the party is under 25.

Booked for someone else who isn't with you. If you book a room for a colleague or relative, put their name on the reservation as the primary guest, not yours. A room registered to a person who never arrives is the single most common cause of a refused check-in.

The pre-arrival check that takes ninety seconds

Before any trip, open the reservation and confirm four things.

The primary guest name matches the ID you're carrying, character for character where it matters. Your passport expiry is beyond your travel dates, and beyond the six-month buffer if the destination requires one. You have a payment card in your own name for the incidental hold, even on a prepaid booking. And you've read the property's minimum check-in age if anyone in the party is young.

That's it. Those four items cover essentially every scenario where someone gets refused a room they've already paid for.

Two situations worth planning around

Long stays and city registration. In a handful of countries, staying beyond a set number of days shifts you from a hotel guest record into a residence registration. Germany, Japan and several Gulf states all have versions of this. Hotels usually handle the paperwork themselves, but they need the passport to do it, and they need it at check-in rather than on day nine.

Travelling with children. Hotels rarely ask for ID for minors, though a growing number of European properties now ask for a date of birth for every guest because occupancy taxes are often age-banded. Where children stay free, the free-stay age cutoff gets enforced from that same data. If you're travelling with a 12-year-old and the free age limit is 11, expect a charge at the desk rather than a quiet pass.

Group bookings under one name. Booking four rooms under a single name for a group is convenient until arrival, when several properties will insist each room is registered to an adult who is present with ID. Split the reservation into named rooms at the time of booking. It costs nothing and removes the entire problem.

None of these will stop you checking in. All of them will slow it down considerably if you arrive without documents for the whole party.

Common questions

Can you check into a hotel without ID? Almost never. Some small independent properties in certain countries will check in a guest on a booking confirmation alone, but every major chain requires government photo ID, and in many countries the hotel is legally required to record it. Don't plan around the exception.

Do you need a passport to check into a hotel? In your home country, usually not. A driving licence or national ID card is normally accepted. Outside your home country, yes in practice, because most nations require hotels to log a passport number for foreign guests.

Can someone else book a hotel room for you? Yes, but the reservation must be in the name of the person who will actually check in. If the booker's card is paying, ask the property for its third-party payment authorisation form in advance. Handling it at arrival rarely works.

What is the minimum age to check into a hotel? Eighteen at most properties worldwide, but 21 is common in the US and a few resort and casino properties require 25. The requirement is set per property rather than per brand, so check the specific hotel page.

Will a photo of my passport work? No, in almost all cases. Local registration laws generally require sight of the original document to verify identity. Carry the physical passport even if you also have a digital copy.

The short version

Physical government photo ID, unexpired, name matching the booking, plus a payment card in your own name. Passport abroad, licence at home. If someone else is paying, get the authorisation form before you travel rather than after you arrive.

More on the mechanics of arrival on the blog, including how incidental holds work and booking a room for someone else.

Images: Hotel reception bell via Pexels. Passport and entrance hall via Pixabay. Used under their respective free licences.