Mr Canuck and I would like to give a night's stay in a NYC hotel to his sister and her soon-to-be husband as part of their honeymoon trip to New York. (They'll be staying with us for the rest of the time.) We're thinking about a couple of options to booking them a nice hotel: (1) Priceline; (2) Marriott points; (3) Hilton points; or (4) redeeming our Thank You Points for about $200 in Ritz-Carlton gift cards and then topping up that amount so they can stay at the RC Battery Park (looks like it's about $325 a night for a harbor view room).

I have a few questions: (1) Can we book a hotel for another person through Priceline? (2) Can we use Marriott or Hilton points to book a hotel for another person (without having to pay any transfer fees)? (3) Which NYC Hilton family and Marriott family hotels would you recommend for a special stay that doesn't break our "points bank", and why? (For example, I think the Waldorf-Astoria and Ritz-Carlton are out of our range for Hilton and Marriott points stays, respectively, but anything else is a viable option.)

Thanks