"...but most times a gratuity does."
Maybe that's meant as a joke, but seriously, whenever I've had that problem -- and I've had it a great many times -- there's never been any hint that greasing palms would make it go away. Sometimes appeals to call the boss -- who's usually the one who told the desk not to accept foreigners -- will work; sometimes passing an informal Chinese language test will work too. But often, nothing will work, and you soon develop a second sense that tells you when talk is fruitless.