'Experience' is relative, my answer was based around my perceptions of two hotels - neither of which would I - without status and in ordinary rooms - choose to stay at considering the competition (even on an expense account).

Staying at either hotel in an ordinary standard room I wouldn't expect much from either - PH, old and freyed - MO very small and a little 'stuffy'.

Best advice I think you can get is through photos by people who stayed at the locations as even service standards can be perceived and valued differently (and these are almost universally excellent in Tokyo, although truly superlative staff in this country can crop up anywhere and aren't limited to 5 star hotels)

With this in mind, and to help others decide for themselves I made up this thread
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=732787
I personally have had no surprises whatsoever having first evaluated hotels using the Japanese photo blogs I've included - better than FT opinions (including mine) or tripadvisor, the photos are clear, upfront and honest.

'Underwhelmed' just means that after paying a huge premium for your room you arrive and wonder if it really is significantly better than what you get at a decent 4 star - a small room, old & worn furnishings or a lackluster view are classic contributors to a feeling of 'underwhelment'.

Don't forget that an awful lot of people do set store by 'experience' - the fact that the PH was the setting for Lost in Translation actually means a lot to a lot of people (although not to me, didn't like the film much... I think the word I need is 'underwhelment' due to its sallow shallowness)