There are several types of hotels: the most convenient are so-called business hotels. Rooms and beds tend to be quite small, but they offer pretty much everything you may need. Prices are affordable and range from 5,000 to 10,000 yen per night. An altogether different experience is a ryokan (Japanese-style hotel) with tatami-matted rooms in which you sleep on futons on the floor. The cheaper ones are in the same price range as business hotels. However, depending on the hotel and on room availability, they may not allow single occupancy. There are also a number of high-class hotels, both Western-style and Japanese-style.
Hiroshi Sakai has reserved a bock of rooms in the SUPER HOTEL KYOTO/SHIJO KAWARAMACHI. If you want a reservation in this hotel, please contact Hiroshi as soon as possible.
Here are some other hotels.
Unfortunately, there are hardly any hotels close to Kyoto University. Some of the hotels listed below are within walking distance, some are not.
Downtown Kyoto is roughly the rectangle bound by Kawaramachi street and the Kamo river in the east, by Karasuma street (with the Karasuma subway line below) in the west, by Shijo street (and the Hankyu line underground) in the south, and by Oike street with the City Hall in the north. This is where the large department stores and the shopping malls are located. Gion, the traditional and exclusive entertainment district, is further east across the Kamo river. The Super Hotel is also in the downtown.
Here are some business hotels in the area:
The following is a high-class hotel:
There are also a few ryokans:
There are many more hotels close to the main train station (JR Kyoto station). Since this is south of the city center while Kyoto University is to the north-east, this area may be less convenient. For a list of hotels see any tourist webpage on Kyoto, e.g., the one of the Kyoto Visitor's Guide.