Originally Posted by
Koby
I do not think that that is a problem. (And I'm pretty sure that I have done that in the past...) It's like booking a airline ticket, using miles, for someone else.
But the OP want to pay for someone else, get the points on that stay, and have the "guest" receive the benefits. That is something completely different.
I agree to the latter point you make and this is not to be encouraged.
However, I booked my son a place at an Ibis during his uni years and the hotel were very upset about this, threatening to deny him the stay and contact Accor about the abuse of points (I was ignorant of the fact that I could not gift the night's stay - no excuse). They could permit gifting of stays without the benefits if the cost of a free breakfast is too onerous in these hyper-profitable times for hotels.