The BBC programme 'rip of abroad' this morning, advise you not to hand in your passport to the hotel after a couple ended up losing theirs after a hotel gave it to the wrong people. The couple asked for it back the day before returning from Turkey only to find reception hadnt got it. The couple spent the rest of the day going to police to report it, then on to the British consul to get replacement papers. Thos Cook the tour operator, couldn't fly them back to Doncaster where their car was parked. The couple ended up at Manchester. The passports since been renewed, leaving the couple £900 down and Thos Cook refused to pay, after the hotel said they didnt have it.

The passport/s ended up with another passenger, who said he hadn't realised he had been given them hmm, and handed them into the UK police once home to late, as the passports had been renewed. After the programme took up the case, Thos Cook paid up and gave the couple another hoilday.

The BBC programme advises you to take a copy of your passport and hand that to the hotel, it is not law that the hotel should have your passport just the details. You may show the hotel your passport along with the paper copy but said keep your passport it's a valuable document

I always wondered why a hotel would keep your passport the first night, but it would be available to you from the next day onwards?

Dont leave your keys behind the desk either, we used to do that but not anymore, as soon as they are sitting their then everyone knows your out. We got all our cash taken from our safety deposit box, no I didnt leave them keys lol but their was no sign of the room being broken into, infact we even got ready for bed, it wasnt until I walked past the wardrobe that we noticed there was no door on the deposit box anymore.

Always thought it strange handing over your passport for a day or two.   

I have three passports, one for all my European travel and two for the rest of the world where it is politically dangerous to visit opposing countries and have never left any with anyone

Most of the hotels we've stayed in recently just scan (photocopy) the passport there and then, in front of you, and hand it back straight away.
It was like that last year in Benidorm Del?