I used to stand at the door with a sheet of paper, copying down passports. Four people, four documents, twenty minutes, the guests on edge, and me too. Today the vast majority of my guests fill in their details themselves on their phone before they arrive, and at the door I just compare the ID with what I already have. Here's what it took to get there — and what it didn't.

Why the guest does it

The guest has no reason to fill in a form for your sake. They have a reason to fill it in for their own. Three things that work:

1. The form is short and in their language. Name, date of birth, citizenship, ID document, address. Nothing extra, no “how did you hear about us”. Switching to English or German is a given, not a bonus.
2. Behind the form is something the guest wants. The door code, the Wi-Fi, how to get there from the airport. The guest only sees this once they've completed the check-in. It's not a trick, it's logic: without the details I can't accommodate them; with the details they get everything they need for their arrival.
3. The invitation arrives at the right time and with an explanation. Not on the day of booking, when the arrival is three months away, but a few days before arrival. With one sentence on why I'm asking: Czech law requires guest registration, filling it in takes two minutes, and there's nothing left to sign at the door. And if they don't fill it in, they get one reminder, not five.

The legal framework

You need the details from the ID document for the evidenční kniha (guest register), the domovní kniha (house book), and for reporting foreign nationals to the cizinecká policie (Foreign Police). You don't need the guest's consent for this — it's the fulfillment of a legal obligation. The law requires a signature only from foreign nationals over 15 (the registration form), and never from Czech guests. The law does not require a photo of the ID, and Airbnb actually prohibits asking for one unless the law requires it.

Two platform traps

Booking.com strips every link from a message unless you've whitelisted it in the extranet beforehand. The guest just sees the note “[Link was removed]”, and the automated message you sent gives you no hint of it. Set up the whitelist once, in advance.

Airbnb prohibits off-platform links and asking for data beyond what the law requires. There's an exception if you state in your listing description, in advance, that the law requires guest registration and ID details. One sentence in the description and you're within the rules. Making access to the accommodation conditional on anything beyond the legally required registration — a review, marketing consent — is against the rules.

What happens to the details once they come in

This is the whole point: a single form produces a row in the guest register, for a foreign national a row in the house book too, and a report goes out to UbyPort (the Foreign Police reporting system) — on time, with a check for allowed characters and with the correct purpose-of-stay code. A guest who completed check-in on Wednesday for a Friday arrival is reported on Saturday without me lifting a finger.

If the check-in comes in late or not at all, I fill it in myself on my phone at the door — the report still goes out the same way, I just had to be there for it.

What changed in day-to-day operations

Fewer messages. A guest who has the door code, the Wi-Fi and directions from the airport in the portal doesn't write. Fewer errors in the reports, because the guest copies their name from their own passport rather than me copying it from a photo. Less time at the door. And peace of mind that the report went out even when I was on vacation.

The guest portal is the other half of this equation — more on that separately.