Hotel asks for credit card and passport through mail for restaurant reservation

score:3

Accepted answer

Something doesn't feel quite right, although it may be okay.

  1. New Years eve is a prime spot for restaurants so it tends to be expensive and the hotels would like to get paid for every seat (and then some). They don't care if the guests actually show up, but they want to get paid for food, band, staff, decoration, etc.
  2. They really don't want any non-revenue seats on these nights so they want some sort of guarantee for the reservation
  3. The normal way to do this would be to ask for a non-refundable deposit. If you show up, great! If you don't, the hotel gets to keep your deposit (seems fair)
  4. Asking for your credit card number is only ok, if it is very clear of what they would do with it. It is ok to secure a deposit or your incidentals. The key here is to find out what they would do if you can't show up the dinner. How would they would use your credit card ?
  5. Asking for a copy of your passport for a dinner reservation is a big "heck no" for me. While it's sometimes okay (or required) for a hotel/lodging/airbnb to do that, it's a big no-no for a restaurant. If they insist, eat elsewhere

Upvote:3

In some countries, it is common for restaurants to ask for a guarantee for some reservations, especially for larger tables or specific events.

It is actually very common for New Year's Eve, as on that evening: * they have only one seating instead of 2 or more, * there is usually a fixed menu with more expensive food that usual * they may have to pay staff more than usual (and/or have more staff) * the cost per person is usually much higher * tables are often larger than usual

So the risk for them in case of a no-show is much higher than usual. And as it's a festive evening and everybody has their own idea of what the best place is for that evening, there would also be a higher rate of no-shows than usual without this. They don't do it for fun, there's a reason behind it.

If you have any doubt about the legitimacy of the e-mail, call them to confirm (using the published number, not the one in the e-mail, of course).

The way they do is often a bit low-tech, but it's not unusual. I've had the cases in Sydney (yes, you want to pay to get a table in front of Harbour Bridge on New Year's Eve), Singapore, and probably other places I don't remember. Probably even had something similar in the US as well, IIRC.

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