where to stay in kyoto or osaka?

I'm planning to go to Kyoto and Osaka arriving on the 20th of Oct and leaving on the 24th.. Should I stay at Osaka or Kyoto?? I tried to book a few place in both Osaka and Kyoto but it seems that most places are fully booked. Is it because most places have free cancelation policies? is it going to be easier to look for one closer to the dates?

Do you guys have any recommendation on where to stay? I am looking for a private room with private bathroom , preferably near station at around 10,000yen/ night

thank you

If there's REALLY nothing left, you can try other places nearby, e.g. Otsu City in Shiga Prefecture (it's just a few minutes by train from Kyoto), Nara, Kobe etc. :)

http://www.jtb.co.jp/kokunai_htl/cal/A08/26/2601/#htl_contents
Kyoto
adult 1
room 1 single
no meal
max 10000 yen per night
Oct. 20 to Oct.23, 4 nights
around JR Kyoto station, and other convenient stations.

there are many.

As I checked through Trivago,

http://www.trivago.jp

there are plenty of rooms available in Kyoto for 20th Oct. I have not searched for other dates and for Osaka, I believe there should be many left.

On the other hand, it is said among Japanese people that the business hotels tend to be fully booked this year, especially for Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, which I personally experienced. Some says this is due to free-cancellation policies. This year the number of foreign tourists increase, and they concentrate in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. Further many of the foreign tourists do not know the "normal" fare for these cities, so some hotels take very high rate. The tourists (both domestic and foreign) therefore use free cancellation policy to take cheaper rates which in turn get the rate higher. Two days before the actual date, there are some "released" rooms which the rate is relatively low. Actually, you can see some hotels show rather cheap rate for tomorrow.

Thank you everyoneee... so i realize if even only one of the date is not available they will put not available on all the dates.. I tried dividing the dates and managed to book on the dates but on 2 different separate hotels.. more experiences on hotels i guess ...

thank you everyone.. you inputs are all helpful..

cheerss..