In my experience, the official answer has been that the cert holder 'should' be present. However, the hotel allows you to add additional guests under the reservation which makes it possible to check in without the cert holder being present. This has generally not been an issue as at the end of the day, the hotel is getting paid for the room and a listed guest under the reservation has checked in.

davidsc111 - since the reservation would be under your name only, I don't believe your daughter would run into any issues as there only needs to be contact with the front desk at check in. If they ask any questions, she could simply say you are arriving later.