Our family of 5 (2 adults, 3 young teens) will be traveling to the Netherlands and Belgium next month. Rather than get 2 hotel rooms, we prefer to rent an apartment or vacation home (and have not had problems doing this in Ireland, France, Italy, etc.) However it seems that the Netherlands doesn't have the bounty of rentals that other countries do. Would we be better off renting an apartment in Amsterdam (and take days trips to Haarlem, The Hague, Delft, Keukenhof) or is there a website with some options for renting homes in a more central location that I am missing (despite hours of web searching!)? If we stay in Amsterdam, I assume we have to rely on public transportation vs. renting a car to get us to other locations. We have 4-5 days planned for Amsterdam and surrounding areas. Thanks for any advice you can offer!

vThe Official Holland Site - Netherlands Board of Tourism ...
The official site for tourism and leisure in Holland with online hotel reservations,
tips for trips, museums, night life, events, attractions, ...
www.holland.com The Netherlands Tourist Board's 800 number, presumably on the web site, should be able to direct you to some sources.

I loved Haarlem, I would think it is a little more family friendly.

The City of LeidenMore information about the city of Leiden and its history can be found on the homepage of Leiden tourist office (adres): Gateway to Leiden. ...
www.leiden.edu
Leiden would be a perfect base for you - again the tourist office should be info if you call them. Neat old town, lively because of large prestigious university, great train service

ditto to above about how neat Haarlem is - quainter even than Leiden - a great town

Haarlem (English)Informatie van en over de gemeente Haarlem. ... Dutch museums · Holland Tourism · Go Haarlem · Tourist Board Zuid-Kennemerland ...
www.haarlem.nl

Thanks for the help - we are trying to stay in Haarlem and I used the website you refer to but there is only one apartment on it and the owner is using it in the month of April. Any other options you are aware of besides the hotels?

There are apartments listed on this website:
http://www.amsterdamby.com/

Have you tried the Hotel Joops in Haarlem? Joop used to have apartments. Maybe he still does. Some of the rooms in his hotel are large enough to put in a few extra roll-aways. The other 1 star hotels in Haarlem (Amadeus, Carillon, Raekse) have very small rooms.

Another option is one of the B&Bs in Haarlem. I think there are 2 or 3 and some have multiple rooms. I would consider that for a family.

And another option is one of the "Zimmer Frei" places in Zandvoort. These are probably the cheapest places to stay in Holland. They are homes with several rooms to rent. They are called "Zimmer Frei" because that is the German for "Room Available." Germans are the most frequent visitor. I don't know of any with web sites but you can contact the Zandvoort VVV tourist office to get names and numbers. I've used these a number of times. I just walk around the town and ring the bells to see if there is a room available. Since you are visiting in April you better have a reservation well in advance. Holland is invaded during April by Europeans going to visit the Keukenhof tulip garden. There is frequent train service between Zandvoort and Haarlem, and from there on to all the major cities in Holland.

Good luck. You'll love Holland.