Same with 4P Warsaw - card charged at check-in so Mr. didn't get the points for food. We wrote to Marriot and of course they forwarded it to the hotel and they said because the room was paid for so they had to charge separately - after some struggles we got the points - and they said if anyone wants to charge to the room they need to take an authorization of the card at check-in. It is just customer unfriendly.

The Hiltons in Tokyo and Marriots in Seoul started doing the same sometime in 2023. It goes in as separate charges. One for the room and one for incidentals.
But what really sucked is one time they charged me the TOTAL cost of the stay as a holding incidental. My CC was almost completely maxed for a few days until the hotel corrected it.

I think either: 1. They eat the fee because they get hit by unpaid bills for F&B etc.; 2. They have negotiated a fixed rate for all transactions; 3. They want you to eat there but don't want to give you points.

So the second time when Mr was at 4p Warsaw, he had to tell the front desk at check in that he wanted to use the restaurant. They held extra $ from his card - debit card to cover a meal there. The waiter had to verify with the front desk before placing the order.

I guess there must have been too many people trying to eat for free by billing it to a person's room. Also it is too easy for people to deny that they signed for a charge.

I have experienced in many hotel (Marriott, but also IHG, Melia, Hilton, Hyatt, Radisson) that charging to the room was not allowerd or have to be requested during check out. Usually the budget and medium brands (exception Melia and to part Radisson with nearly all brands) are those with these kind of restrictions.

My experience is, that some hotel make a difference between prepaid rates, which are charged at the hotel during check in instead of at the time of booking, and fully flexible rates. In the first case, those hotel charge the full amount but do not block anything on the card if not reqeusted to do so. The later charge quite often more than the rate of booking and thus enable to charging to the room. I pushed this once in a hotel like the OP, where I charged a larger amount of 450 EUR to my (89 EUR) room (to get points but also to make reimbursement easier for me) and had to negotiate it beforehand. I was somehow - due to earlier stays - aware of this "siutation" and told them, that if this was not possible, I would not use their facilities but go elsewhere with clients and colleagues.

To me, I do not expect that charging to the room in the budget and medium brands (Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Four Points, Courtyard, Aloft, Moxy, Residence Inn, Hyatt Place, Innside by Melia, Park Inn, Holiday Inn etc) is possible and in the case it is possioble, the point did not show up in may account anyway. I simply do not care, if I get the points for a 5 EUR glass of beer or not. In upscale properties I ask, because sometimes hotel are outsourced and thus charging is not always possible as hotel and restaurant are different entities. But in most cases, I have never experienced problems at Sheraton, Marriotts, Hilton, Conrads, Hyatt Regency, Crowne Plaza, InterContinentals ....)

Corporate does not care and usually is unable to do anything than to throw a couple of points, as the hotel are indeed usually franchises and not all have the same system. At check in, some hotels restrict the ability of staff to block credit cards with higher amounts and they can only charge the room rate. I was told, the reason is, that non-used blocked amounts have to be released and not everybody has the authority to do so and some hotels have not always someone there who has this ability.

Last but not least, as this is mentioned above, some hotels (Holiday Inn the nius come to my mind) allow charging to the room for elites (and if mentioned at the bar / restaurand and / or during check in). Sometimes you get points, sometimes not ....

It's very true because the 4P at Warsaw charges the full amount at check-in, which makes charging to the room a bit impossible (I don't understand why since we all have our card on file and if we owe Marriott any $ they can shut our accounts - so we have zero incentive to cheat. Plus it's Europe you can't just leave your key in the room and run off - you do have to go and check-out in person anyway).

That's what Mr. said to the hotel when he found out about that - he said if they don't let him charge to the room he'd just go somewhere to eat. It worked but still an ordeal as the waiter had to walk to the front desk and confirm that they could charge to his room.