4

I'm currently traveling in Albania and checked in at a hotel tonight. It's actually an apartment managed by a private host. He wasn’t present during check-in - I collected the key from a lockbox using a PIN code. The booking was made through booking.com.

Now the host has messaged me asking for a photo of my ID. I'm not sure if this is a common practice in Albania. I've already stayed at three similar accommodations (also managed by private hosts) in Albania this year, and none of those hosts asked to see my ID - let alone requested a photo of it.

Should I comply with his request?

My current idea is to send a low-resolution photo of my ID with part of it covered by my finger to reduce the risk of misuse. Is this reasonable? Or what's considered best practice in situations like this, particularly in Albania?

UPDATE: I took a photo of my passport at an angle, covered a significant part of my face in the passport photo with a finger, and reduced the resolution so the text is just barely legible. I sent the image to the host, and he accepted it without any issues. So, I don't need help with this anymore, but I’ll leave the question open in the hope that the future answers will help other travelers in a similar situation.

Improve this question
7
  • 4
    I don't know the answer to your question, but the one thing I'd recommend is that you send EVERYTHING through booking.com chat - that's a record with a third interested party for if something goes wrong Commented Jul 30 at 1:07
  • The usual reason landlords ask prospective guests to respond to them directly, and not on the booking.com messaging service, is that they (the folks renting the accommodation) want to avoid their responsibilities under the booking.com Terms and Conditions, or to change the contract terms for the rental. Don't do it. You can read more here. Commented Jul 30 at 3:26
  • 2
    I don't know about Albania specifically (hence no answer) but this is very common in Italy and Albania has a lot of links with Italy so I do not find it that surprising. Commented Jul 30 at 5:00
  • 1
    I searched “does Albania require hosts to get visitor ID” and the AI-generated reply was “Albania does not have a general requirement for hosts to obtain IDs or register the presence of their visitors”. IDK how reliable that answer is, however before sending your ID to your host I would ask them to provide me with an official source proving the requirement. Commented Jul 30 at 9:20
  • 1
    While it’s proverbially difficult to prove a negative, I can’t find any legal requirement for hosts to ask for ID in Albania (contrary to some other countries where this is indeed a legal obligation). There is a requirement for you to register with police if you are staying longer than 3 months, though. Ask the host for the legal basis for this, and as advised by others, use only booking.com’s chat to communicate with the host. Commented Jul 30 at 11:08

0

Reset to default

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.