Leaving Passports with hotels

Photo copy should be fine. They only take your passport long enough to make a photocopy for them selves, then return it to you.

Neither.

You will show your passport when you check in (maybe, depending on the country) and the the front desk will take down whatever information they need. You get your passport back right away.

Ditto to what Mark said. Hotels take our passport at check-in and scan it right there or we pick it up at the desk once we get settled and are ready to hit the street.

They will probably want to see your actual passport, not a copy, at check in. Usually they give it back immediately, sometimes they keep it for a short bit, then you pick it up when you are settled in your room. They do not keep it for long at all but do need it for paperwork.

It used to be a practice, especially in Italy, that passports were retained overnight so that the overnight clerk could create the log during downtime. With access to cheap copy machines, that rarely happens any more. They simply will make a copy at check-in or with in an hour or so of check-in and return the passport. Not a big deal if you have to leave it for an hour or so.

Exactly as Frank writes , the last eight or so years has seen the shift to copiers at the front desk

Note that if you stay in an apartment, there may well be no copier on the premises, so your passport may be out of your hands for some time. Having traveled in the old days, I'm not bothered by that situation, but I admit that I almost left Burgas, Bulgaria, without my passport.

One of the concerns (?) complaints here has been apartment requesting copies of passport information in advance. It is basically the same thing. Hotels and registered B&Bs have legal obligations to know exact who is staying in their facilities and that information is often forward to local policy agencies. For some reason a lot of American tourist, especially first timers, tend to have a big hang up with letting go of their passport. As someone else posted, years ago (I know, I know - the dark ages) it was not uncommon for hotels to keep your passport overnight. Never had a second thought about that.

Thanks everyone for the replies.