Stay on the opposite side of the river to Hampi Bazaar. The accommodation is better value (you may even get a swimming pool if you're lucky!), cleaner and quieter than in Hampi Bazaar. There are some lovely places, some with circular rooms and beds, some cottage-style rooms. We paid about Rs350 (£4-ish) for a double. We could see women working in the paddy fields while we had our breakfast, whereas in our place in Hampi Bazaar we were regularly woken by shouting and hollering.
You need to get a coracle back and forth to access Hampi Bazaar (and the bulk of the famous ruins) and they do stop at about 10pm - but there's plenty going on over that side of town, films, etc, and you can even get alcohol there. (It's prohibited in Hampi Bazaar for some reason).
We took a bicycle out and explored that side of the river (way past the Hunamyan Temple!) and had one of the nicest experiences of rural India in our whole 5 months there. My partner had little kids pushing and pulling his bike along for most of the way from village to village. There really were very few non-Indians who ventured in that direction. We were a bit of a novelty to say the least!
There's at least 10 guest houses over that side - all budget at around Rs300-400.
Go to Hospet station. If you arrive during the day, get the bus to Hampi Bazaar (the taxis all know you're giong in that direction and charge a fortune. I think the bus was Rs30 (40p). You then need to find the river and take a boat across (Rs50 if I recall correctly).
The river boat stops at 6pm in the off season. I recommend the guesthouses on the other side of the river too. However, rent a one-gear motorbike for R150-200. Even if you've never done it before, it's easy to learn and the best way to see all of the temples. Avoid a rickshaw driver by the name of Vikram. He turns his rickshaw into a mobile night club and turns off the lights and swerves and honks the horn in time to the music. Fun but dangerous.
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