<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Zip:
Is this place convenient to use as a 1-day base for sightseeing in the area? (No, I don't want to do sightseeing at NRT).</font>
To answer my own question, the answer is NO (or at least, would be very inconvenient to do so). However, we did use it as a base for a day visit to Narita after all, and had a great time, especially at the temple, and various restaurants on the way to it.