On a recent stay at the Hilton London Paddington, I was alarmed to discover that I needed personal identification documents in order to book in.

I arrived one evening after booking online through an agency and, unfortunately on arrival, I found I had been erroneously booked for the previous night. I accepted this was our/the agency’s error and not Hilton’s and asked if I could make a new booking for that night at the same price. The night manager could not meet that price but we agreed a rate for the night, which was higher but still acceptable to me.

When I tried to check in, however, I was asked for an identification document in the form of either a passport or a driving licence, neither of which I had.

I was informed that this was a police security requirement adopted by the hotel for all ‘walk-in’ customers. I said I had never heard of this before and that it seemed quite unreasonable and unnecessary and that I was more than happy to provide my credit card. He would not be moved and I was forced at 11pm at night to find another hotel.

I hope the matter can be clarified so that other customers can avoid similar embarrassment.

Petra Stone
Organiser
Surrealist Society, East Sussex

GTO asked Hilton to respond:

The safety of our staff is of paramount importance and as part of our own security procedures we do require some form of identification for anyone who stays in our hotels.

In the case of international travellers this would be photographic, while for UK residents a credit card is accepted.

Security measures are at the discretion of individual hotels, mainly because the hotel may need to act on local security information and increase safety levels accordingly, which may see additional forms of ID required.

At the Hilton London Paddington, photographic proof of identification is required for anyone whether from the UK or abroad if they don’t already have a booking. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Douglas Cameron
Director of Safety and Risk Management
Hilton