THR

I was looking at making a booking before it moves to a category 8. When I try to do so, it has the 60,000 per night (as expected), but also a service charge of 69,600 yen (making it a total of 76,000 yen with government taxes as well).

Any idea what this 'service charge' is? I wasn't expecting this on a points stay?

Edit: Sorry, more details - this was for 3 nights, so 180,000 points, and ~ 20,000 yen per night in service charges. Only for 2 people per room, so no extra people.

Aventine

The service charge is what Japanese hotels charge in lieu of tipping.

THR

Hmm, well that certainly adds up. Might reconsider using my points for this stay.

EDIT: PG doesn't charge a service charge - just the 180,000 points. Nor does RC Kyoto. So it seems that only RC Tokyo is charging this rate.

BillBurn

This "service charge" from what I can tell is very new or at least wasn't in place last week. It must have been added in the last few days because I have been checking rates at this hotel frequently over the past week or so.

As it happens, I have a points reservation I made last week (1/21) for a 5 night stay in late May. The reservation confirmation email from 1/21 says that the total for the stay (5 nights) is 1,000 yen. I just looked at the website and the total says 126,280 yen, with a 116,000 "service charge" that has obviously been added to my reservation after I received the email confirmation. Very, very sneaky.

Anyone else have a recent points reservation they can check to see if they had the service charge included or not?

I am thinking I will have my ambassador try to sort this out...

THR

Maybe it's an error? I just checked RC Kyoto and it doesn't apply a service charge. Nor does Prince Gallery... given it's non-club entry level, and an upgrade to club is the same again, thats pretty expensive. Additionally so when it goes to a category 8.

Here is hoping it is an error.

BillBurn

Yeah, not sure what's going on. I will definitely press the hotel to honor my original email confirmation. I have been checking all-in rates for my stay for the last few days since I made the award reservation (I have two award room reserved and might want to switch one to a paid stay). I think it was on Friday that the all-in rates went up a bunch and I think it was the imposition of this "service charge" that made the rates go up now that I think about it.

I am surprised (and a bit disturbed) they can quietly amend the online reservation like that without kicking off some kind of email to the reservation holder. Makes me what to double check my other 20+ reservations!

THR

Still the same rate today so not just some overnight glitch.

THR

It's fixed now.

BillBurn

They removed the "service charges" from my award reservation too. Still kind of bent out of shape that they can add/remove charges to a confirmed reservation like that without any notice, but at least they removed it.

kelakwek

I got an official response after I queried them on the service charge imposed on my redemption booking. I am miffed because I had been communicating with the hotel earlier via email and nobody bothered to tell me. Anyway, I've switched out of RC Tokyo to the Westin Tokyo, after I realized Plats don't get breakfast here, which is important for me.

"We have currently faced a systematical error for a few days and indicate the wrong service charges online. We would be pleased to confirm with you that your reservation is reward points redemption stay and there will be no extra service charge occurred. Kindly disregard the service charges which are put on your reservation until the system gets fixed and the charge is removed. I am not sure about how long it will take us to solve the problem, but we are trying our best to do it as early as possible. Sorry for the inconvenience we cause you. We will appreciate your kind understanding and patience. "

nexusCFX

You should consider the Prince Gallery if Platinum recognition is important to you and you're swapping from the RC.

THR

I wouldn't be so uppity. It was an error and they fixed it.

BillBurn

LOL, not sure what's "uppity" about that comment.

My guess is that most people would have a problem with Marriott changing the pricing on a confirmed reservation without their consent or notice and the fact that Marriott did it in this case suggests that they can do it in others. If it's being "uppity" to be concerned about this, well then ... I guess I am uppity.

AngryOvis

Had a reservation, and although the service charge seems to be fixed now, they are adding in an extra person fee which wasn't there before (about $60+ per night).

Aventine

Standard in Japan to charge per head for a room booking.