Guest Registration in Italy: Why We Ask for Your ID

If you’ve booked a stay with us, at some point before or just after you arrive you’ll get a friendly request: please send a photo of the passport or ID of everyone staying. Guest registration in Italy is something that makes some guests pause. Why do they need this? Is it safe? Are these people going to do something with my documents?

We completely understand the reaction — so let’s clear it up. The short version: it’s Italian law, we’re required to do it, and it’s exactly the same at every hotel, B&B, and rental across the country. Here’s the full story.

It’s the law, not a preference

Every accommodation in Italy — from a five-star hotel in Rome to our apartments here in Amantea — is legally required to report the identity of overnight guests to the State Police (the Polizia di Stato). This isn’t an Airbnb rule or an Amantea Dreams rule. It comes from a national public-security law (Article 109 of the TULPS, Italy’s consolidated public security act) that has been in place for decades.

The reporting is done through an official government portal called Alloggiati Web, run by the State Police and connected to the local police headquarters — the Questura. When you check into a hotel in Italy and hand your passport to the desk to be checked and recorded, this is what they’re doing. As independent hosts who offer self check-in, we do exactly the same thing — we just handle it remotely, since we can’t always be at the door to greet you in person.

So where does my information actually go?

Straight to the State Police, and nowhere else. We enter your details into the official Alloggiati Web system, and the portal sends us back a digitally signed receipt confirming the report was filed. That receipt is our proof of compliance, and we’re legally required to keep it on file.

The purpose is purely public safety: the system lets authorities know who is staying where on any given night. That’s it. It’s the same principle behind checking into any hotel anywhere in the world.

What we need from you

To file the report correctly, we need the following for each guest staying overnight:

• Full name (as it appears on the ID)
• Date and place of birth
• Nationality
• Type of ID and its number (passport or national ID card)

Because we offer self check-in and can’t always meet you at the door, the simplest way to handle this is for you to send us a clear photo of the passport or ID card — the same document you’re travelling with — through a secure channel: your Airbnb or Booking.com messages, or WhatsApp. It takes about a minute, and it saves everyone the headache of trying to line up an in-person meeting around arrival times and travel delays.

Everyone staying must be registered — from infants to adults, no exceptions — so please include every member of your group, children as well.

What actually happens to your photo

We know handing over an ID makes people uneasy, so here’s the whole process, start to finish, with nothing hidden:

1. You send the photo before you arrive or at check-in.
2. We read the required details from it and enter them into the Alloggiati Web portal.
3. The portal confirms the filing with an official, digitally signed receipt — this receipt is the only thing we keep.
4. We delete the photo — from the chat and from our device — as soon as the details are filed.

That’s it. The image exists just long enough for us to type your details into a government form, and then it’s gone.

Uncomfortable sending your child’s ID? Here’s an alternative

We completely understand parents who’d rather not send a photo of their child’s identity document. If that’s you, you don’t have to — for children, we can file the registration with just the following details instead. Simply send us, per child:

• Surname and first name (Cognome / Nome)
• Sex (Sesso)
• Date of birth (Data di nascita)
• Place of birth (Luogo di nascita) — town and province if born in Italy, otherwise just the country
• Citizenship (Cittadinanza)

That’s everything the police system needs for a minor. No document photo of your child required.

What we absolutely do not do with it

We think it’s worth being direct about this, because it’s usually the real worry:

• We do not sell, share, or use your information for marketing.
• We do not keep your documents — the photo is used only to file the report, then deleted from the chat and our device as soon as your details are entered. The one record we keep is the official portal receipt.
• We are not running any kind of credit check, background check, or anything beyond the legal registration.

We’re a small family operation. We handle your data the way we’d want ours handled, and we’re bound by Italian and EU privacy law (GDPR) on top of everything else.

The timing matters (a small favour to ask)

The law gives us a tight window to file after you arrive — as little as a few hours for a short stay. Missing it isn’t just a slap on the wrist for us; it’s treated as a serious public-security matter with real penalties.

So the single most helpful thing you can do is send us the ID photos before you arrive, or right as you check in. It takes you two minutes, it keeps us compliant, and it means we can spend your arrival talking about where to eat and what to see rather than chasing paperwork.

One more thing you’ll notice: the tourist tax

While we’re being transparent, there’s a second small item worth flagging so nothing surprises you: the tourist tax (imposta di soggiorno).

This is completely separate from the ID registration above — different law, different purpose. It’s a small local charge set by the Comune of Amantea to help fund things like beach upkeep, cleaning, and local tourism services. Here it works out to €2 per person, per night, for guests aged 12 and over (children under 12 are exempt). Importantly, it’s capped at 7 consecutive nights — so even on a longer stay, the most you’ll ever pay is €14 per guest (7 nights × €2), with no charge for any nights beyond the seventh. Like the ID rule, it applies at every accommodation in town, not just ours — and we simply collect it on the Comune’s behalf and pass it on.

We provide a detailed explanation of the calculation process, identify the exempt individuals, and outline the payment methods in our article titled “The Tassa di soggiorno.” Please keep an eye out for that article.

The bottom line

Asking for your ID isn’t us being shady — it’s us being legal. Every legitimate place you stay in Italy does exactly this, and honestly, if a host doesn’t ask, that’s the one you should wonder about.

Thanks for understanding, and for helping us keep everything above board. Now — let’s get you settled in and pointed toward the good stuff. Amantea is waiting.

Have questions about anything before your stay? Just message us. We’re always happy to help.

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Guest Registration in Italy: FAQs