We'll be in Tokyo for 3 days in early-mid April 2011 and would like a hotel in the $150-$175 range. The Asakusa or Ginza neighborhoods look appealing, although we're open to others. We don't do well with a lot of noise at night and (sadly!) our backs can't deal with tatami mats. We'd love charm, but understand that may be sacrificed in a big city hotel.

Take a look at Japanican for a variety of places then look at the specific hotel sites later or book with them. April 2012 will be the busy cherry blossom season so prices will be higher and you should look into booking soon.

http://www.japanican.com/special/budget_hotels/

a few other sites to check with hotels that have been used a lot by members here

http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/

http://www.sunroute.jp/SunrouteTopHLE.html

http://www.choicehotels.com/?sid=xbOczi.XiFQOgQo10.12

Aloha!

or this hotel: http://www.ezchoicehotels.com/
Hamamatsutyo is near Ginza and on Yamanote circle line.

Hi genoise,

In my opinion the guidebooks are way behind in searching for accommodations in Tokyo. I found two great places that were really inexpensive on my last stay in March. So search on Booking.com or Agoda and read the reviews.Here are my reviews of the places I stayed.Both inexpensive and rated well.

Hotel Nihonbashi Villa was a basic hotel steps away from the Bakurocho station.You can arrive there in 80 minutes from Narita on a rapid train without any connections. Its also half the price of the faster trains.It was a small room with a bath.I paid $70 a night.While there ,I also walked to the fish auction in the morning.It was a long walk,an hour an a half,but I really enjoyed it.Actually the tour didnt start until 5:45am, so I could of taken the metro at 5:00 am and arrived in time.

After I unloaded my gifts ,I moved to the outskirts.I stayed at the Day and Stay Hotel Dormy Inn in Yatsuka.It is convenient to Ueno Park,Asakusa,and Akihabara.It was $42 a night.It worked for me ,but is an extra 5 dollars a day in metro costs per person ,because it is outside the area of the metro day passes, so you have to pay a supplement.Take the metro to Kita- Senju and buy the day passes from there. The room was good sized and the people were very nice.I especially liked seeing everybody eating ramen in the evenings.Tokyo does have day passes that include JR lines too for extra- That makes it convenient for getting to areas like Ikebukuro and Shinjuku. The hotel is also pretty convenient to Asakusa station,where you can take day trips to Nikko.

betterbidding.com priceline.com from $95

Crowne Plaza or Intercontinental best for price for me

www.otel.com/hotels/park_hotel_tokyo.htm

Good no bid site many options I like the Park

Westins are pretty good too...

We stayed at the Oakwood in Shinjuku (rated #5 hotel in Tokyo by Trip Advisor at the time) and it was within the price range you have. But the Yen/$ rate is really going to hammer you now - we had one at 103-107/$, yours is mid-70s or less.

Also for a great restaurant review site,look at bento.com Usually gives a review, prices,map.And has some great search features. They sometimes review other bars and sights as well.
Then the museums and other attractions are reasonable,so even with the high value of the Yen,one can make a budget trip