Regulations & check in forms.

Hi Hostels, We do have a FT activities coordinator. She organizes Pub crawls, free dinners, Tours and other activities. I think if the FD staff know the property well and are good communicators they can effectively inform the guest upon check in. I am not sold on the idea of scanning a guests Passport. The reason for copying the passport number is a legal requirement and making a copy exceeds that legal standard, I do not see the benefit or necessity in making a copy of the Passport.

In my post above, I was saying that at one hostel the owners had us photocopying passports, but I wasn't saying that I recommend doing it.

Just wanted to clarify my post :)

I'd agree with you there. I believe that regulations differ around the world - I remember in Mexico being expected to leave our passport with reception - whether this was a legal requirement or not I'm not sure. In the UK if you asked for a guests passport I think most locals would find it very odd. I guess because there is no law saying we have to travel with ID here. Certainly here if you took scans or copies of any documents and stored them either electronically or physically I'd say you'd have to abide by the data protection act. This requires that all such data is stored securely. If you had a security breach whilst holding such info there could be problems.

I find it interesting that there are a lot of places with rules and regulations laid out on forms etc. I worked for years for the YHA, and the one complaint was always of too many rules. As an independent we now have no real rules as such. We expect consideration for other guests, but that's about it. (No smoking, but that's illegal inside here anyway). The other problem with a lot of rules is that the sort of people who'll be responsible don't need them, and the sort who won't will often ignore them. There is a big difference in the reasonable person you explain the rules to, and the same person who comes back totally drunk at 1AM.

We do not hold any documentation. THat´s a huge responsibility! Of course, all data that is scanned is kept in a locked drawer. We keep record of everybody that has stayed here. This is how we manage when someone is problematic or has stolen something. And of course we know that someone that is here to steal or anything like that, would rather not come to this hostel.
We hadn´t had problems with drunks or anything like that yet. But there´s no space for these people here. We are not a party hostel and they get it straight from the beggining. There´s nothing that implies alcohol, party, noise or anything like that here, in the website or in the reviews.

I rather have 10 good customers that 20 problematic asses LOL! You end up paying the money you make from them in repairs, paint, cleaning services, stuff replacement, and so and so.

Certainly here if you took scans or copies of any documents and stored them either electronically or physically I'd say you'd have to abide by the data protection act. This requires that all such data is stored securely. If you had a security breach whilst holding such info there could be problems.

I was thinking about using a system made for nightclubs like this.

Following on from my above post, if the guest doesn't trust me with their passport details, should I trust them with my hostel, and more importantly, the other guests.
There is no question I would never need, and probably never even use those details, but I would love to have them to hand if something did happen. Personally I would happily put my passport on a system like the clubscan, especially if it meant I didn't have to fill out a check in form.
At the end of the day, the forms and id checks are a waste of time, but they serve a useful purpose of making the hostel seem more secure, and hopefully making people less likely to commit a crime of any sort. Just like airport security.