Japan accomodation. help needed

I am travelling with my girlfriend and friends to Tokyo on the 3rd of November and I am really confused about where to stay. We want to be central to all the tourist sights and nightlife (I hear Rappongi is good) and are not really into museums or art. I Would like to try not to spend any more than about US$100 for the night, and must have private bathroom in the room with double bed if possible. Any help would be appreciated.

In my opinion, it's impossible to be central to "all the tourist sights" in Tokyo. The city is far too large and the sights too widespread to be close to all of them. We stayed in Ueno (near the zoo and several museums) and quite liked it. It seemed a lot of the cheaper options were located there. It was walking distance to the Akihabara and Asakusa districts, but quite a trek to visit Shibuya or Harajuku for instance. The subway in Tokyo is great though. Or at least I thought it was

Our accommodation in Ueno was modest (New Izu Hotel), but I think it was still over US$100 per night. Actually.. here it is.. 10,500 yen / night - so just over $100. That was a few years ago though. And these were traditional Japanese rooms, so you sleep on a mat on the floor.

On a second visit in Tokyo, we stayed at Hotel Kitcho in the Nihonbashi district. A tiny room, with a tiny private bathroom, but we really liked the area and the staff were very friendly (as most Japanese people are in general). That one was only 9000 yen / night, so would be under $100. Like I say though, a very small room (kind of the norm in Japan mind you). I'd stay there again if visiting Tokyo.

Hope it helps and don't forget to check out the Tokyo guide. It's had a reasonable amount of work done already, but if you have anything to add, feel free to contribute!

Thanks Peter, I will have a look at those. Are they both close to subway stations? I was looking at some hotels in ueno, particularly Ueno First City Hotel, but I wasnt sure how far away that is from places like roppongi. We are only there for a couple of days so are pretty keen to be able to access the nightlife by foot or short train ride from where we stay if we can.
Cheers
Ben

The stations were walking distance. From memory about 10 minutes to each of those hotels. Ueno is not really close to Roppongi. About 30 minutes on the metro from memory.

This map might help you get an idea: http://www.tokyomap.com/

Subway maps can be downloaded here: http://www.tokyometro.jp/global/en/service/routemap.html

Use this site for calculating times and fares: http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperWeb.cgi. (not responding for me right now, but it usually is pretty good)

Btw, when you do book a place, be sure to carry a fairly detailed map with you that marks its location. Going on address alone is very difficult in Tokyo as the numbering system is quite messed up.

Wow, great info. Thanks heaps. That maps puts it into a lot better perspective for me. The Tokyometro site is fairly helpful too.
Much appreciated
Ben

My wife and I mostly used the toyoko-inn hotel chain on our 5 week trip through Japan in Sept/Oct 2007.
Try www.toyoko-inn.com as it has about 26 budget hotels scattered throughout Tokyo.
Rates for double room generally work out about 9,000 - 10,000 Yen per night (about 100 USD).
That would include free Japanese breakfast (rice balls with pickled vegetables, miso soup, juice and coffee), free internet in the foyer, free domestic phones in the foyer, free water dispenser, cheap laundry facilities (washing machines and dryers), etc, etc. Full details on hotel page.
Their website shows all their Tokyo hotels with map of the hotel's position.
As far as I have discovered, all their hotels are very close to railway and/or subway stations.
We stayed in Shinjuku west (not at a toyoko hotel) and found that area pretty central for getting to Tokyo's sites (e.g.
Yoyogi Park, Harajuku for the wackily dressed, Shibuya for the evening buzz, the Tsukiji Fish Market and the Ginza).
Loads of metro lines pass through Shinjuku, and Shinjuku east is action-packed at night.
The Metropolitan skyscraper is in Shinjuku west and the views of the city from the 41st floor are fantastic if the weather is good.

One of the two greatest cities in the world (the other is NY).

Enjoy

Anthony

P.S. Each room has a private bathroom.

[ Edit: Edited on Oct 24, 2008, at 5:40 AM by wotthefiqh ]

Thanx Anthony, yeah I have been workin the past couple of days so haven't been able to log in, but I will start havin a look at the hotels around Shinjuku. Some of the sites Peter sent to me are showing the same thing about that area so I think that sounds like a winner.
Cheers
Ben

[ Edit: Edited on Oct 27, 2008, at 12:56 AM by Ben1234 ]