I booked an overnight stay for at the Days Inn San Jose Airport using Wyndham Rewards points.
On the day of our stay, I received a call from the hotel saying that there would be a $200 deposit required because we were using rewards and not paying for the room with a credit card. I wouldn't have had a problem with that except that the hotel required that it be a CASH deposit. There was nothing on the Wyndham Rewards website or the email confirmation stating that a deposit would be required and, at that point, it was too late to cancel the reservation without losing our points.
When we checked into the hotel, the staff again insisted on cash. When I requested a receipt for the cash deposit, the check-in clerk refused to give me one. Needless to say, this made me very uncomfortable since I had no proof that I had actually given them $200 in cash. They did give me the cash back at checkout (and I question whether they had time to actually confirm that we hadn't ruined anything in the room), but I was not happy customer.
We have stayed at other hotels using our points and, at most, they have asked for a credit card for possible charges for "incidentals". The Days Inn staff told me that this was not an option since we weren't paying for the room.
The hotel itself was nice but, given the cash deposit required and the unwillingness of the check-in clerk to give me a receipt, I cannot call this a five-star stay.