Originally Posted by
EuropeanPete
As I said, there are specific cities where it is indeed the case. I've travelled more in Europe than most (20 years of travel, 300+ European cities) and I've come across the situation a number of times. You're generally looking at specific places in Germany, Switzerland or Northern Italy, where this is a thing, from memory. Obviously if the OP is checking in in Nashville or somewhere, this discussion is irrelevant.
Frankfurt is €2 for tourists (none for people on business if I remember correctly), a few cities in Belgium charge €5 or so, Italy is pretty random and I think even Barcelona recently added one, though I'm not 100% sure it applies to point bookings in the same way.
I'm not disputing existence of the tax, nor its applicability to award bookings. But there is no requirement that it must be charged directly to the guest - as long as it's no paid, no one cares where the money came from. Per Hilton rules it should be hotel that covers the tax, it should not be charged to the customer.
All of my award stays were in Europe, where just about any destination has a tourist tax. I was never asked to pay it, it was always covered by the hotel.