Speaking from experience:
It's up to the HHonors rep to advise you of black-out dates, etc. If they failed to catch this, it's on them; the reward is now in the system. The hotel won't know that you are using the Citi free night certificates, hence the 80K points information; it's an accounting trick, you don't actually need to have them in your account.
It's up to you, but I would show up, check in and enjoy your stay. I seriously doubt the hotel cares whether you used actual points or a free night cert; they are paid the same amount from corporate.
Last edited by fozziedoggie; Aug 8, 2013 at 2:37 pm