Originally Posted by
Flying Lawyer
Qualifying stays without staying should work if you at least check in. Nobody should force you to make use of the room.
Apparently they do require you to sleep (or at least stay over night) in the room for stay credit. I say that because I once had to check out of a hotel before midnight (having arrived the same day in the morning) and did not get any credit at all. I realize that this sounds like strange behavior on my part, but there were good reasons that are too difficult and personal to explain.