My friend & I (2 single women) will be staying in Amsterdam for a few days at the beginning of April 09 on our way home to Canada from Africa. Can anyone recommend a nice hotel for around $150 - $200 U.S. per night? I'm leaning towards the Prins Hendrik at this point. Any comments on this hotel?

Here are a few - all cheaper than the Prins Hendrik. The Prins Hendrik's location just out side the train station is convenient (especially for catching multiple tram lines), I don't think it's the most charming location.

http://www.sevenbridgeshotel.nl/

http://www.hotelkeizershof.nl/

http://www.kaphotel.nl/

http://www.hotelprinsenhof.com/

http://www.freewebs.com/leydschehof/

I second the suggestion of the charming Seven Bridges. I also like the location.

We loved the Hotel Prisenhof. Very good prices, great location, excellent breakast (included).

We just returned from Amsterdam and stayed at the Hotel Kelzershof. It is in a great location but what we loved most was the homemade breakfasts. Every morning the grandmother would come to the table and ask if we would like omlets, the next day fresh pancakes,ect. They also enjoyed helping us with questions and where to go. We did stay in a room on the 3rd floor and there is no elevator but we loved climbing the spiral staircase. Seems that many of the canal houses are like this.

I also think the train station area isn't very good...I don't think you would get much sleep and no canal views.

I recommend Maes Bed & Breakfast. It is a small B&B centrally located in the Jordan area. You can easily walk there from teh Centrarl Station.

Beautiful, clean and charming facilities owned by a couple, one a former Russian dancer and the other a chef from California.

It gets terrific reivews on trip adivsor, and when we stayed there in May 2006 we could not have been more plesed.

Great breakfast, friendly folks, great location, and right about on your budget.

http://www.bedandbreakfastamsterdam.com/

I also recommend Maes B&B. Good location; great owners. Easy to get to tram stop. Lots of restaurants/cafes within easy walking distance. But it is a B&B, not a hotel. We prefer this type of accomodation, but others prefer hotels.

The Owl Hotel, a modest place a couple of blocks from the Leidseplein tram stop and close to the musuems and Concertgebouw, is in your price range.

http://www.owl-hotel.nl/website.html

Nice breakfast room, elevator, on a quiet block behind the Marriott at Leidseplein, easy tram access to all the sights beyond walking distance. It might be worth a look if the steep stairs of canal houses are not for you.