I tried to do this once and discovered that hotels are very strict on this issue. Any major hotel chain in the world requires that the person staying at the hotel must have **their own credit card in their name which the hotel would physically swipe on site, regardless of who made the reservation**. 

A third party cannot contact the hotel and give them their credit card number, for instance. The person whose credit card is used for incidentals has to not only be present, but also their name must be on the reservation. 

Some hotels will allow a cash deposit, and there may be a small handful of hotels that do allow a 3rd party incidental deposit, but not many, and certainly not the more established hotels and hotel chains. You'd just have to call ahead, speak with the front desk manager, and see if something can be worked out. But my experience has been that this policy is cut and dried and exceptions are rarely, if ever, made.