Originally Posted by
GUWonder
Implemented practice matters, and in this regard it need not be a duplicate of policy as articulated above. In practice, it's rather systematic to get stay credit in Hotels.com program even for reservations made in the name of other guests while logged into hotels.com. Combine this with cashback portal use and this program is rather awesome in practice for consumers.

The Terms and Conditions provide the official answer to the question posed. The fact that other people cheat the system doesn't change that.