Guest Registration (Legal Guest Register)
Many European countries require accommodation providers to keep a guest register — a record of who stayed at your property. hejGuide's guest registration keeps this register for you in an encrypted vault: the right fields per country, automatic deletion after the legal retention period, and a printable extract or CSV export for the authorities.
How it works
- Enable it per listing on the listing's Compliance tab (it is on by default). The card shows exactly which details are required and optional in your country.
- Guests fill it in during online pre-check-in (step 2 of the check-in form). If online check-in is off, you register guests yourself from the booking page.
- You can always complete or correct entries from the booking page — open the Guest registration card, click a field, and edit.
- When the authority asks, print the register extract from the booking page or download a CSV export from the Guest registration overview. Both require a one-time e-mail verification code, because they reveal unmasked document numbers.
What is asked, per country
The field set follows the verified legal requirements of your listing's country. Examples:
| Country | Who must be registered | Retention |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | All guests — main booker only; document type but never the number | Set by your municipality (default 1 year) |
| Germany | Foreign guests only; spouse and minor children as a count | 1 year |
| Sweden | Foreign guests only; children with their parents are not registered separately | 3 months |
| France | Foreign guests only; no document number; phone and e-mail required | 6 months |
| Austria | All guests; family members with name and date of birth only | 7 years |
| Spain | All guests including all minors; document number from age 14 | 3 years |
| Italy | All guests; document details for the main guest only | Until reported (30-day working copy) |
| Croatia | All guests including children, each individually | 10 years |
| Portugal | Foreign guests only, each individually | 1 year maximum |
You can adjust every field (required / optional / hidden) and the retention period on the Compliance tab. Legally forbidden fields (such as the document number in the Netherlands) stay locked. Deviating from the legal standard is your own responsibility — hejGuide warns you when you do.
Exemption for your country's own nationals
In countries where only foreign guests must be registered (Sweden, Germany, France, Portugal), guests simply pick their nationality first. A guest with your country's nationality is done immediately — nothing else is asked or stored except the nationality selection. Groups can confirm "All guests are … nationals" in one tap.
Prefer to register everyone anyway? Turn on "Also register nationals" on the Compliance tab.
Security and privacy
- Every field is stored individually encrypted; encryption keys are held in an EU key-management service. hejGuide never stores copies or scans of identity documents.
- The guest check-in link can never reveal stored details — it is technically write-only.
- Every time you view, print or export register data, it is recorded in a tamper-evident audit log.
- Records are deleted automatically and irreversibly when the retention period ends. Guest anonymization (GDPR tools) never touches the register while the legal retention obligation runs.
Your responsibilities as a host
You are the data controller for your guest register. hejGuide provides verified per-country defaults, but local (municipal) rules can differ — check them, and add this processing activity to your own records of processing. A ready-made template row:
| Field | Content |
|---|---|
| Processing activity | Legal guest register (your country's lodging-registration law) |
| Purpose | Complying with the guest-registration obligation |
| Legal basis | Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR) |
| Data subjects | Guests (including minors, reduced field set) |
| Data | The fields shown on your Compliance tab |
| Recipients | Competent authority (on request or via the national portal); processor hejGuide |
| Retention | Shown on your Compliance tab, deleted automatically |
| Security | Encrypted vault via processor hejGuide (DPA, Annex 2) |
The full processing terms are in the Data Processing Agreement (Annex 2) that you accept in the dashboard.