Nara hotel recommendation needed
 

Please recommend a 3-star hotel in Nara for 2 people for this May.
Clean, convenient, and not too-tiny a room. "Lovely" would even be better.
Thanks in advance.

There are places to accommodate nearly any budget. It would help if you gave more ideas of your plans - presumably you'll be seeing the Nara Park area. Anything else? The two big stations are JR Nara and Kintetsu Nara, and more info might narrow things down.

This info is for my brother and his wife, both in their late 70's. They will have a JR Pass, so will arrive at JR station, even though Kintetsu station will be more convenient for sight-seeing.

The minimum they will want to see is the Todaiji Temple and Nara Park. Anything else are flexible. They like to DIY so that they can take it easy and enjoy the places at their own pace. They plan to stay for 2 nights.

Budget - hope to keep it not more than USD $250 per night for two.

Thanks.

Even with a JR pass there is no reason to pass up the Kintetsu line, which is very cheap. However, if they are coming from Kyoto they would have to make one change to get to Kintetsu-Nara (it will cost from 620 yen). I slept in the Toyoko Inn, just across the street from the Kintetsu station and close to the bus stop, but that's way below your budget.

We loved the ryokan we stayed in for our 2012 visit to Nara, but it's a little above your budget. It does include a wonderful kaiseki dinner and breakfast though. It's called Kankaso Ryokan and it's close by to Todaiji Temple’s Nandaimon (Great Southern Gate).

Thanks to everyone who has taken time to respond.
I will also throw in the 4-star "Hotel Nikko Nara" (west of the JR station) and "Nara Hotel" (near Nara Park) into the mix for my brother to consider.

We stayed at Hotel Nikko Nara a month ago for two nights - we had a twin room, apparently Superior! It was a nice hotel, I must say though, even in winter I do like cooling aircon as the rooms are often stuffy, one can't open windows, and then there are heavy duvets!

But, it was a good hotel - didn't nearly spend enough time in Nara - the Buddhas in the Greater Eastern Hall at Todaiji - wow, amazing sculpture!