Tokyo layover
 

Is it possible to stay somewhere in (or around) Tokyo for 2-3 days without breaking the budget? I don't mind a bit of a splurge, but over $150/night USD for lodging is too much. What about airport transport & food? I have heard cab rides are hundreds of dollars.
I am trying to break up my flight to China in late October.

I recommend just connecting and going on to China. Not much point in breaking up the trip with a stop in Japan.

Getting into Tokyo will cost you about $30 to $35 by airport bus or train.

My first trip to Japan was a 3 night stop over on the way back home from Bangkok. I had just wanted to at least see Japan once, but since I had heard it was so expensive I had little interest other than a short stop over.

We arrived at about 13:30 at Narita and by about 18:00 or so while wandering aimlessly through the side streets of Nishi Shinjuku I was hooked on Japan. I HAD to return and have been back a few times since ;)

mrwunrfl's bus and trains options are your best bet to getting into Tokyo from Narita

In the $150 per night options are limited but still plentiful. Here are a few

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

http://www.tokyuhotelsjapan.com/en/TI/index.html

http://www.itcj.or.jp/en/index.html

If you up the ante to about $180-220 the better options really open up

Aloha!

I think $150/night is perfectly doable at up-scale "business hotels" like TOkyu Inn chains. (Just check the website for the room size, and personally I avoid places with rooms less than 20-25sqm).

mrwunrfl gave you the rough transportation costs. Within Tokyo, you can get pre-paid train/subway cards, probably another JPY2000 per day would do.

I find food in Japan to be quite reasonable and actually very good value considering the quality. You can easily find "set lunch" for JPY1000-1500 easily, dinner for JPY3000.

Hi

You should try to make a stop in Japan as it is quite an interesting destination. My wife and I stayed in Japan for about 2 weeks and traveled around a bit to check out the various cities. Here is a trip report from Tokyo with pictures http://gardkarlsen.com/japan_tokyo.htm . Maybe it will give you an idea of what to expect :-)

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures