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I wouldn’t care if you didn’t see the point, no passport or ID card, no bed. National law trumps your feelings.
Anyway, I think there is language issue here, and that the guest houses being referred to by this poster are not what US based hosts consider guest houses.
JF
Definision of a Guesthouse is for me when I arrive at the location there is sign “XXXXX Guesthouse” and booklet inside is welcome to XXXXX Guesthouse.
What I wrote above is not a fact for all guesthouses, its just summerysasion of all my guesthose experience. Some had only 3 things, some all.
You ask for link that qualifies as a guest house. I can link AirBnB link of the guesthouses that I booked on AirBnB in the past that I thought were local apartments before I arrived. Let´s see if you see any signs of that being a guesthouse. See if you agree its a little bit of “misrepresentation”.
First one in Phuket Thailand : https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5365102?source_impression_id=p3_1579980640_JNWl9nDOaA2K%2FB3Z
Then In Lima Peru : https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/13274586?source_impression_id=p3_1579980997_ymRYHz4OIjaNYsia
And again in Phuket: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/17451528?source_impression_id=p3_1579981049_YZ6qDIeCWG7uiq%2FL
Last one in Bangkok Thailand (this one I might have guess it was a Guesthouse though. Alot of warning signs. But like I said to RiverRockRetriet I dont hate guesthouses. If they have good location and what im looking for I might book : https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/17033450?source_impression_id=p3_1579981134_FnCXWHnYY7tyK21Y
@ZeroZ - I hope that you reported those inaccurate and deceptive listings to Airbnb. Deception is not allowed. The hosts at this forum are very rigorous about maintaining excellent standards and therefore we are delighted if you can help us by routing out these people who have decided to leap onto the Airbnb bandwagon without attempting to offer proper hospitality.
Please confirm that you did.
Anyway, as John says, in certain countries, it’s a legal requirement for guests to provide their passport. Any hosts who don’t do that are operating outside the law.
Now, are you a host or not?
Looking at the first one in Phuket quickly the first thing I see that is a red flag for me is that the host has multiple apartments. Multiple reviews mention staff. Her ratings are also not a high as I would look for.
I understand if there are budget issues or it’s a last minute trip but I could probably find a “one host, one home” situation that I’d prefer even if it meant moving away from the city center. Sometimes you can’t have everything, especially at a lower price.
I’m not going to look at all of them but I understand now what you are calling a guest house.
Again. I am a host. Superhost in fact.
I have hosted 142 guests over time span of 4 years. I can send you in private message my listing/profile.
I agree those listings I linked above were “inaccurate” because they were not apartment as advertised (see links). But I must say I was not a furious customer. Looking back I had wonderful stays in all of these Guesthouses. Just some issues I mentioned above about passport, cash, housecleaning ect ect. Did not ruin my stay. just minor annoyance. Those listings are for sure bandwagening on this very high profile and popular platform (AirBnB) But I am not going to report them. Feel free to do yourself. Those are maybe people who don´t know better. All in goodwill mind. But note that in future , if some Guesthoses are blatenly obiously annoying me with their deceptiveness I will report in future. So far all my guesthouse stays have been withing my tolerance limit.
Good point. I think I have rarely click on the host profile and see the number of listings. I will do that in the future.
I haven´t used AirBnB in the US yet. I understand that US might have passport/idCard demands. But the reason I say I don´t see the point is that in those countries I have stayed I have stayed in many other “real” apartments that did not ask for Passport. Only the Guesthouses asks for it. Especially in Peru and Thailand ive clearly see the difference. I am 99% sure there is no passport demand in the law because Ive stayed in so many airbnb apartments that don´t require passport.
It might be language issue. But if you look at the links I provided of 4 listings. You will see there is no mention of that these are guesthouses. So misrepetetion is a fact. Thouse businesses are bandwagoing of AirBnB platform.
By the way, I’m not in the US.
It is both a language (cultural also?) and perception thing here. That’s not a criticism of @ZeroZ, just a fact.
JF
What does this have to do with a year old topic about a high-rise apartment stay in downtown Bangkok?
Next time, maybe create a new topic?
it escalated quickly lol. Aight, I will remember to do a fresh topic in the future mate.
What are you, the forum policia?
Get off your high horse and don’t be so rude to a new member.
JF
Zero, as I said above, if it’s a legal requirement in a country and Airbnb hosts don’t ask for your passport, it means that they are operating illegally. Unfortunately there are still many Airbnb-listed apartments where the hosts haven’t got the necessary permits from their local authorities.
If a host is legal and has the legal permits then he or she must ask to see the passport of all their guests. These details then go to the authorities and if a legal rental doesn’t comply the host can be sent to jail.
So if you’re in a country that has that requirement, and the host doesn’t ask you, then the chances are that they are operating under the radar. Not to good thing to do. If the host has neglected to get the permit, then the chances are that he / she doesn’t pay the necessary taxes and doesn’t have STR insurance.
True. Each country has different laws. In my country it´s 90 days maximum per year. 22% tax but no passport requirements. I might check out the AirBnB laws in the future of each country I visit.
For those of us who are accustomed to travelling a lot in Europe, I guess we don’t even think about it. It just seems normal to show your passport at hotels or at any other accommodation you’re staying at.
It’s a security issue, I think. The police want details of people who are staying in their area just in case of any problems. In fact, I’m a bit surprised that they don’t do it everywhere these days.
LOL - back off. I’m not the one who necro’d a post. Worse yet, I’m not the one who necro’d an old post with a totally unrelated subject.
Speaking of rude - yes your comment was. You can put away your soap box now 
I thought it was clear.
BTW, I’ve seen other forums where they pop up a message when you reply that says something like “This post is over X months old. Are you sure you want to reply?” This forum needs a similar warning.
We have it here as well, at least for the first new reply. I don’t know if people are ignoring it or if it’s a setting of some sort that some folks may not have enabled.
If there was a pop up for every reply after someone necro’ed it it would probably be counter productive as now we’ve had a nice little convo.
@Brian_R170 - ah but the guest is a liar. 
It’s not a guesthouse. That is the Guest’s line of total BS to try to get a partial or full refund.
IMO, that’s a pretty decent deal for an apt in downtown Bangkok - we’ve been there a few times. Fantastic street food.
I just did a few tests. It does appears to be setup, and is currently configured for 6 months.
