Hotels takes passport?

Hotels rarely keep guests' passports anymore but they WILL probably want to take a copy of the information page - to register you online with the local police station. If they insist on keeping the passport, even overnight, tell them to forget it! ...

Knock out some photocopies and let them keep them.
I wouldn't leave my passport with any hotel for any reason if I didn't have to.

There is a hotel in Nha Trang called the Blue Star.They have locked up my passport ,credit card and hundreds  in cash.I never had a problem .They treat me like family and have been there 5 times over the past ten years.Most hotels will just make a copy.

I find by default they ask for your passport and if you don't ask for it back they keep it until you do. But they always do if you ask. More upmarket hotels have standard procedures and will always give it back after checking in. It varies depending on the hotel your staying and also whether it's in the city or the countryside but all they are doing is registering with the local authorities either through a website or by taking your passport directly to them. The later often happens in smaller hotels in the countryside. Money does exchange hands under the table to register people "efficiently" which is why some small hotel operators in the countryside have personal relationships and do it in person. If it's not done by website then they will have to keep it for slightly longer but you will get it back.

The same applies to foreigners, especially Viet Kieu staying with family members. Head of the household your staying with have to go to local authorities with "gifts" of cigarettes, alcohol and red envelopes to register their guests as staying with them if they don't want to have to wait long. Of course, in a city no one can really check who's staying at their friends or relatives place but in a rural town/village where everyone knows everyone... people cover their backs by registering guests.

Thanks for the quick response from all of you that did responded.

With extensive travel in Asia I would say it depends. Some countries will keep some just make copies. Suggest you keep a copy on your person.

Have Fun

Vietnam hotels take IDs of every guest. Passports of foreigners, IDs of citizens. My understanding is that around 10pm they report the list to the police. That means that during the day you can get it back, and sometimes if you are staying multiple nights they will make a copy. Ask. Yes smaller hotels are less fussy, and  you don't need to bribe them.

Don't know where some of these folks have been staying. But I travel all
over VN and I do not recall one hotel that did not keep my passport. The police require they have it. But I have had the need to use it while at a hotel and they have always let me use it and return. In the case of the OP, if they travel away, but still maintain the room I don't think the hotel requires it. They can easily explain there is no one in the room and the are in DaNang.

I have traveled as well, I did not let ONE hotel keep my passport. I told them to make a copy.

Another tack is to inform the hotel at checkin that you need you passport for money exchange or banking reason and ask them to make copy like above said. If that doesnt work almost always offer to prepay the room for x day(s) ...90% of the time they take my money make a pic or photocopy and smile handing my pp back.  Why? Because vn then will pocket money n not even bother to visit police station thus avoiding tax...vn is always about the money

Never had one of dozens hotels - small or large - keep my passport.  I don't even let them keep and bring to my room when checking in. I wait on it and keep in zippered leg pocket while on the move.

It's interesting seeing the range of actions.

When I arrived at my hotel, I gave them my passport and didn't think about it for  a week or so , then when I needed it, I asked for it and they gave it to me.
When I returned to the hotel, I automatically gave it back to them ,since I figured they were supposed to have it. Yes, they made a copy when I took it.

I didn't think any of this was out of the ordinary, as I have traveled all over most of Europe and the Caribbean and it's pretty much the same.

In fact, in Vietnam, because the people are simply so nice, you can get away with a lot of attitudes that in other cultures or countries would not be tolerated.

If you let some Vietnamese wage slave keep your most important travel document and trust them to keep it safe...I'd say that person has a screw loose.

I noticed that when you book your hotel room and its not paid for in full, they do keep your passport as some sort of guarantee too. If your booking is paid for in full, they are more than likely to return it after they have taken a copy and/or registered you with the local police.   

similar experience to this poster here. I stay at city hotel on a quiet street near benh thanh market (luu van lang) and each time I go there they will ask for my passport as well as my wifes/ brothers. We give  them our passports and let them hang on to it. When I need it for whatever reasons, applying for business licenses etc, I'll ask them for it back and they will give it back to me with out any questions asked. Strange ey.

One of my girl's friends also dates a foreigner. They stayed at a hotel, he turned over passport. Upon leaving 4 days later, they gave him a passport..problem was, it wasn't his. The passport belonged to another guest who had checked out several hours before. The other guest probably had his (we all look alike, ya know )

There is NO REASON for ANYONE but YOURSELF to hold your passport.

Its not the law to hold your passport, you can make a copy and just show the original. I have booked into hotels just by showing my marriage certificate on my phone.