Near the station is an ANA hotel and a Nikko hotel. They are both very nice and special deals can be found for about 25,000 yen and up per room...they add an extra charge of 6000 yen I think for an extra bed. There is also a ryokan called Chaya near the station that is quite nice...about 15,000 per person per night with dinner and breakfast included. The food is excellent at Chaya There are plenty of business hotels around the station, none of which is special in any way other than having very small rooms and limited tourist services. They will run you froom 8000 yen per night single, 12,000 per night double and up, usually no extra bed is available due to the small size of the room.

However, I don't recommend staying near the station, as it is out of the way of tourist sites. I do recommend staying in the Katamachi/Kohrinbo area, which is right downtown. The Tokyu Excel hotel and the APA hotel (chuo) are both perfectly fine places, the Tokyu being a touch nicer and having a little bigger rooms. They are just about across the street from each other. From either of these two hotels, you can walk to Kenrokuen, Kanazawa castle, central park, Saigawa river area (where you might see fireworks if you are in town on the right night in August), Nishi geisha district, samurai temple (but you'll need a reservation and the tour is only in Japanese), samurai district and good shopping and restaurants. The Tokyu or the APA regularly has special rates on the internet for under 10,000 per room with breakfast. There is a Washington Hotel as well that has a good Chinese restaurant and is in the same area...I just don't know the rooms there, but the chain is known for being reasonably priced and clean.

One thing to keep in mind is that all of these places make their specials available about 3 months before check-in, and the best price you will find anywhere will be the hotel's own internet price. Problem is the best prices only come up on the Japanese language pages, and you can't reserve the internet specials by phone, fax or e-mail or in person. A good travel agent who speaks and reads Japanese might be able to get these good rates for you, Anywhere you decide on, it is in fact too early to make a reservation for anything other than rack rates, which you shouldn't have to pay...you shouldn't have to pay close to rack rates anywhere except a ryokan.