Clint,

"Sure, terrorists will generally stay in major hotels under their right names and make all their calls from their rooms. Why wouldn't they?"

Whenever I have visited the US I have always been asked why am I there (purpose of visit) and where will you be staying. I would imagine that for those entering the country with a large body of tourists it is easy to state that you like them are on holiday and pick a resort hotel as your destination.

A simple check of a list of who is actually staying at the hotel can be compared to a list of who said they would be staying at that hotel would give some form of short list - so not so daft as you would like to make it sound.