Through Priceline we have a room at the Crown Plaza Amsterdam-American in June. Great savings by not booking independently as the hotels in Dam are really expensive. What I need to know is how far is the hotel from Dam Square, museums, and the other centrally located sites? Within walking distance or will we have to take alternative transportation? Since we are Priorty members we may get a preference on room location: which would be better a canal view or Leidsekade Street?

The American Hotel is on Leidseplein which is a 5 minute walk to the Rijksmuseum, 7 minute walk to Van Gogh Museum, and 15 minute walk to Dam Square. Canal View room will be better.

I would not have recognized the full hotel name, but if the American in the Leidseplein district, it's (IMO) even better than being technically central! It's a wonderful neighborhood, lively, with restaurants, bars and street entertainment in the evening on the square. Also near to Vondelpark which is gorgeous. Amsterdam is a compact city so the museums and all are not far anywhere in town.

My favorite Amsterdam hotel. Can you tell us what you got it for on Priceline? I never thought about trying that. I always look on hotel-booker and hope for a good last minute fare.

I appreciate all the replies.

Grasshopper: We had a reservation through Channels.nl for the Hotel de Leeuw Roode $171 per night. We cancelled that and booked the Radisson for $170 through Hotel.nl. In the meantime, we tried repeatedly to get a centrally located hotel on Priceline and only recently did they accept our offer of $96 for the Crown Plaza. We were actually hoping to get the Rennaissance that is close to Central Station but based on the replies above it seems that our assigned location is even better.

CBee, please consider posting that bid at BetterBidding.com . Congratulations on the great deal.

CB That is very good indeed. I've never gotten it for less than $125 for a single. It really is in a MUCH better place than closer to Centraal Station. I would jump on it! You'll find the trams very very easy to take. Have a great time in Amsterdam. It's one of my favorite cities.

We stayed at the American the first week of April. It is a lovely hotel. My only complaint was that our room faced the square and we were constantly hearing the "music" of a trumpet player right outside the hotel. He started at 7:00 am and continued until 9:00 pm. It got extremely annoying since he only knows one tune!!! Also, the square can get very noisy at nice, especially when the bars close.....so, I would highly recommend a canal view, if at all possible. Also, the breakfast is expensive, so if you can get that included in the price of the room, that would be a huge plus. The tram runs right outside the door, You can take the tram from Central Station right to the hotel. IMO, consider yourself very lucky to get such a great deal!!!! (BTW, bring a clock for the room!)