I've never had this scenario before so not sure of all the answers. I'll be in Grosvenor House in February 2x, one being on an award & the other on a paid stay - but the paid stay won't be paid by me.

On the paid stay, 3 of us are attending the British Oscars (2 of us are voting members) & staying at GH because 1) it's my favorite place; 2) the governor's ball & after party are held there, which means pushing the elevator button at 3am will be easy.

The 3rd person has offered to pay for my room this year as a Christmas present (yes, a very generous Christmas present) as well as the other person's room who is one of her oldest friends. When we attended the BAFTAS last year I signed her up for Marriott Rewards so she could get points for her & the other friend's room, as she was paying for both of them. Last year I paid for my own room.

So a few things to keep in mind/my questions:

* She does not care at all about status or requalification or night credit. She doesn't track anything. I'm the one who signed her up last year for MR because being an FTer it drove me crazy that she would be spending those kind of $$ & not getting points. She was intrigued by the idea of being able to use points for RC stays since when she travels, if she's at a hotel, that's where she stays. I'll probably have to help her book it or tell her assistant how to do it, as she's really clueless re: points etc. In her tax bracket FF programs aren't at the top of her mind.

* If she pays for all 3 rooms, will she get the points for all 3 rooms? IIRC she won't get night credit for all 3 but she doesn't care about night credit.

* Should she book all 3 rooms at the same time, or does it matter if the other person & I book ours separately? If I read the above posts correctly, she just needs to make sure the invoices are combined at check-out? If theirs have already been booked & I'm doing mine separately, should we contact the hotel to have them merge the 3/same ressie # before arrival?

Note: I have no idea if the other 2 have already made their reservations & if they've made them separately or combined; I need to ask them, but thought I'd check here first to find out parameters.

* If she does the combined room booking, does her cc get swiped for the hold on all 3 rooms when she checks in or will our cards be swiped as well? We will be arriving at different times since we live in 3 different cities/departure points. If the rooms are booked separately even though she's paying for them all in the end, I'm guessing that means our cards get swiped for holds too, or is that a wrong guess?

* She has zero status because she just signed up last year. Since she'll be paying for my room, does that mean my Plat bennies such as upgrades won't apply for my room? I'm guessing that's the case. But is that the case if the room(s) are booked under one confirmation #, or if we're reserving our rooms separately then I'd still get mine even though at the end it would all go under her MR#. A bit confused on how that one works & could have two different answers.

* Should she contact the hotel in advance to sort out the combined invoice/paying for everything?

Anyway, any input re: the above greatly appreciated. I'll be talking w/ my 2 friends at the beginning of the week but wanted to have a better handle on everything when I talk to them.

Cheers.