Originally Posted by
GUWonder
In which country is the hotel located?
I've booked hotel stays for others using points in most of the the countries in which Starwood and Marriott has hotels and I've never needed anything from the hotel guests beside a first and last name of the hotel guests to make the reservation. Everything else the hotels needed from the guests, the hotels could get on arrival from the hotel guests. The exception may have been when the hotel wanted a credit card, but otherwise I've never needed to conference a call with the hotel guests to make a valid booking.
My hesitancy in naming the hotel/location is because, as was mentioned, the hotel also extended some courtesies that I don't want others to expect, so can we leave it that the hotel is located in one of the old Communist Eastern European countries? My concern is others will say they heard the hotel does this or that and it might be rescinded for my family members. I answered something on another thread that made someone think his elite status transferred to the person using the points and am weary of someone thinking that again. You'd think the country was China, but it is in Eastern Europe.
Just to be clear, IME I have made reservations for other people many times and, as previously mentioned, have come to believe it is best to have the third party on the line to ensure everything is clear, correct and and lacking surprises. This was the first time there was an issue that got dragged out. Being able to do something and that something being a best practice are two different things. The friend/family member is getting a free hotel stay. Asking him/her to be on the phone for five minutes is not asking too much.
BTW, you used to get pop-ups online when additional information was needed when making a third party points reservation. Those appear to be gone now. Returning those would be best.