I had a battle to the death over a $25/day service charge on an award stay in May 1999 at the Tokyo Renaissance near the Ginza (the same hotel, I believe). Part of my problem with the charge was that I had received no "service" whatsoever -- not even a mint on my pillow -- in 5 days!

I tried to refuse paying on checkout (when I was surprised by the charge), but that didn't work. After I got home, I wrote to Bill Marriott. The first letter did not get the desired response, but my second letter did. The service charge was refunded directly by the hotel, with a Japanese check!

This was almost certainly my worst experience ever at any Marriott-family hotel. The service-charge issue is just the tip of the iceberg. They put us in a very lousy room, despite my Platinum status. I had to demand a different room (one with a window that looked out on more than a concrete wall). They refused lounge access. They repeated endlessly, "We're NOT a Marriott."

I would NEVER return to that hotel, and I recommend that nobody else go there either. You might want to search on "Tokyo"; you'll find other stories.

Bruce