Its not even cost efficient to stay in Narita and travel that far even with buying the rail pass.

Its like staying in Connecticut and riding the train into Manhattan, but for tourist purposes.

LapLap's advice is spot on, but I understand how it can be daunting for a first time visit to Japan and goto places you may never have heard of. However, that is the best advice I've heard yet and you will only know that once you have been there. You will definitely get way more bang for the buck by skipping Tokyo. If you must be in Tokyo, stay in the city and try to squeeze it out. You can eat cheaply if you avoid traditional restaurants.

Staying in the Kansai region will provide the most Japan for the money.

Thanks for all that advice, got a few more questions. Im looking for someplace to stay over the weeked (Fri-Mon) in kyoto. Im debating whether to go to a ryoken or hotel. Looking for some suggestions for both but again im looking for around 100-150 USD per night. Also looking for someplace to stay in Osaka near the JR train station.

You might try a search using the terms"kyoto $100 night" and you will come of with a number of threads, including this very recent one:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...00+kyoto+night
Other search combinations including Kyoto, hotel, and budget and similar terms may also be helpful, e.g.:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...o+hotel+budget

Bundi,

Why are you always trying to find a place to stay near the station? Worried that the train will just show up early? Aw don't worry. Relax. Enjoy Osaka and Kyoto as much as you can! The station is a sweet reach away from anywhere in Osaka/Kyoto!

Sanosuke!

i know its a bit funny i have just never been to japan before so i like knowing there is transpo just down the corner. on that note ive been looking in kyoto but it seems the week i want to go is fully booked in 90% of the hotels. If i were to stay in osaka and just make a day trip to tokyo where is a good place to stay. (I have the JR pass so i would go from osaka to kyoto)

2. On a second note regarding the JR pass, going from Narita to Tokyo are there trains from Narita Town that go to tokyo in which i can use my JR pass or must i go from NRT airport.?

bundi404, I'm happy to give more specific advice, but I do take people at their word here.

You initially gave a budget for your holiday. I showed you how you could stick to it (use only the most basic of lodgings and travel across Japan or upgrade the facilities you'd be using by sticking to Kansai).

Now you seem to be ignoring the information you yourself gave by requesting advice on $100-$150 hotels in Kyoto (I've included a few based on my own and others' information here in the rjh Tokyo Hotels Map - just travel over to Kyoto or scroll down to the end of the list).

What exactly is your budget? What do you expect this budget to cover, everything or just accommodation?

If you want to use the JR pass in Tokyo, to some of us, this suggests that you might only want to stay 7 days, not 10 days, in Japan.

So you do want to go this November/December
Yes, there are trains that goes from Narita Town to Tokyo (There are two stations at Narita - JR Narita (good for JRpass travel) and Keisei Narita (not good for JR travel), they are approximately 5-7 minutes walk from each other)

You can check for yourself by selecting the English option at www.hyperdia.com (it takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to Nippori or Tokyo Stations)

Please, please DO NOT stay in Narita as a sightseeing base for Tokyo. Tokyo is full of wonderful things to see and you will be spending 4+ hours a day going back and forth on the train. Why go to Japan and then waste all that time not seeing things? It doesn't make sense.

Here's a specific Tokyo hotel recommendation:
The Comfort Hotel Higashi-Nihonbashi is directly on the Narita Airpot to Tokyo JR local train (not the express). You get off the train at the Bakuro-cho station (just a few minutes before Tokyo station), go through the exit gate from the train, go up exit #4 from the station to the street (all the exits are clearly numbered), look to your left, and there it is. It's even easier than getting to a hotel in Narita.

They have double-bed rooms for 10800 yen, two-bedded rooms for 13500 yen, cheaper if you have a discount like AAA to use. They have an excellent breakfast buffet that will cover part of your food costs. If you like walking, you can walk to quite a few places from there (Edo-Tokyo museum in about 15 minutes, Asakusa, Akihibara, and Tokyo Station (Imperial Palace) in about 45 minutes). These places are all also on cheap, direct subway or local JR train routes, so you would save considerable in transportation costs. Asakusa is really the only main sightseeing place that you can't reach by JR train from here if you are using a railpass.

It's very comfortable, quiet, and clean. They of course have private barthrooms. They have good coin laundry facilities. You can leave your luggage there before or after you check out. When you go onward on your journey, it's just a few minutes to Tokyo Station. (Which may, however, take some time to get from one track to another once you are in it--it's V-E-R-Y large.)

I think it's important to remember when you are travelling, that it's worth it to spend a small amount of money to gain a lot of time. Spending $20 more to have 4 more hours a day in Tokyo is a real bargain, IMO. Don't be itimidated by the logistics of getting places--you can figure it all out beforehand on the internet, there are Tourist info places in all the train stations, and people will help you on the street if you ask.

Having said all that, Narita is a wonderful little city, so if you have a few hours at the beginning or end of your trip, it's a fine place to spend half a day or so. It has really nice little shops and restaurants on a cute, winding main street, some very old house scattered among new but colorful houses, and a large temple complex that is well worth several hours of sightseeing. I guess there's also an open-air folk museum nearby, but I haven't been to it.

Thanks that is exactly what ive been looking for! Thank you, perfect price and close to train station

Good. Not staying in Narita!
Good. Not bypassing Tokyo!
Bad. Taking a swim in the moat at the Imperial Palace!

Eat here: (Why not, right?) You didn't ask but sticking to the train theme...
It's literally under the tracks, Japanese iizakaya experience, English menu, good value, and that's just in the first two reviews. (all accurate)
I haven't been there in 15 years but Andy is still there.
http://www.vaou.com/viewRestaurant.do?objectId=120

I do not have any other specific recommendations.

I was there a few weeks back. Same as it ever was, same as it ever was. Andy is always there, and I've been going there for over 15 years.

Maybe I'm a little late here, but I'd like to put in a word for the Villa Fontaine chain. The Villa Fontaine Ueno has double rooms for 9500, and the Osaka Shinsaibashi branch is as low as 8200 for double occupancy. Both have free, basic buffet breakfast every morning. Clean, friendly (although not too much English spoken at the smaller branches), and cheap!

The Uneo hotel is about 5 minutes walk from one train station and 15 minutes walk from Ueno station and the Okachimachi district. The Osaka branch is a couple blocks away from a subway stop and right on the Shinsaibashi Arcade.

I see some of the bigger Villa Fontaine branches on the hotels map but not Ueno. I stayed at VF Shiodome last time and it was a much nicer hotel, but the Ueno branch is a fantastic value, one I may have to return to if the Yen stays at its current exchange rate vs CDN....

I had a free Saturday in Osaka so I went for a day trip to Mount Koya after seeing quite a few recommendations here. Following instructions on the web, I bought an end to end round trip ticket from the Nankai ticket counter in Namba.

I got there around noon. The weather turned ugly and I only had a blazer on and recovering from a cold, so I only went to a few places and called it a day.