Beware Hotel guests with children.

I doubt this is anything to do with the government. More like they overbooked and luckily (for them) you turned up and gave them a valid excuse to turn you away.
Still, punters error on your part, not having ID on you.

This is not a bad thing. I am actually happy to see hotels are requesting this! With all the sex trade and so many endangered children this is great news to me to see hotels now require such documents. You as a parent should also understand the importance of such action.
I understand you were not aware and prepared for this, and sorry for that. But in other hand it is great news that hotels are installing this new regulation for the sake of the innocent children.

granca said:

We had reserved 3 nights at hotel Mercure Commercial starting last Sunday, a room for 2 plus 1 child 5 years old. They emailed us confirmation and we arrived at 5 pm only to be told that, no we couldn?t stay because we had not a Cedula (!!), Passport nor any other proof of identity like a birth certificate for our daughter. This despite the fact that all three of us had stayed there three times before with none of this hassle. They said it was a new regulation brought out by the government!!
There we were at 5.30 pm, no idea where to spend the night, no bus back to Las Terrenas. Luckily we did find a small hotel not far away with no knowledge of this "new" regulation.

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Cedulas can only be obtained for persons 16 years of age and older according to the JCE website.

i am not a parent myself but i also see the point of requiring identification. you would not like some perv to check into a hotel with your kid, would you?
i do not know about the policies in DR or elsewhere, for that matter. in poland for years children were featured in parents' ID. now we have changed the form of ID (from a little booklet to the plastic card) they are required to have their own passports, valid for few years only (less than adult passport).
i imagine that parents think it is obvious that their kid is theirs but they should be prepared to present a sufficient proof, especially when travelling.

I thought from the headline of this thread that it was a warning to stay clear of hotel guests with children, which is something I always do....!

Well...one of ours has just left for punta cana for the week-end with her friend and her friend's family.
She (12yrs old) was given some cash just in case, but she is carrying no official i.d. that i am aware of.
........can't imagine that either she or the family will have any problems.

Givadogahome said:

Still, punters error on your part, not having ID on you.

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I never keep my son's passport on me while in country, and probably have a copy of his birth certificate, if that. This is certainly news to me, if in fact, it's anything more than an isolated case of bs on the part of the hotel.

@dv8: In the US, it's still the case that you aren't asked to show ID for minor children on domestic flights. In addition, we aren't required to carry any kind of ID, unless driving. (At least in the states, I've lived, maybe Arizona has changed that). Frighteningly easy, imo, to travel with an abducted child. Now, I understand foreign travel is different, and maybe I'm a little lax, but the only person I typically expect to show a passport to is an immigration official at the airport.

While perhaps this is in place to protect children by keeping pedophiles out of the hotels with their victims, all these posts about new and unexpected regulations make me wonder if the country will be turning away more and more people without ever knowing why.

La Rubia said:

I never keep my son's passport on me while in country, and probably have a copy of his birth certificate, if that. This is certainly news to me, if in fact, it's anything more than an isolated case of bs on the part of the hotel.
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I thought she was talking about them (adults) as a child would not have a cedula so they wouldn't have asked for one. We've never come across anything like this with ours, she never even has to wear a band for A/I, but we always have to show cedula, passport or driving license. I agree it must be the hotel. When we go at weekends all of the Dominican families have kids there and I know they won't have passports, as they can't go anywhere, and again they wouldn't have cedula for obvious reasons.