My fiancee and I will be traveling through Europe in late Sept 04 and have planned a 5 day stop over in Amsterdam....would greatly appreciate any recommendations concerning lodging, places to visit, restaurants etc. While we are not on a real tight budget I am more interested in staying in a more "colorful" type hotel than a very expensive typical 5 star. Thanks for your help...this is a special trip for us.

Well, just one thought. They say that the "native" food of Amsterdam is Indonesian, as Indonesia was one of their colonies. I'm not one to go chasing around to find some restaurant that someone else says was fabulous. We just go get something to eat when we are hungry. But...we did make a point of going to a nice Indonesian restaurant to have what they call the "rice table". It was great and I'll remember that meal as one of the most enjoyable dinners I've had.
EK

I loved hotel de munck! I would request room 17, you may have to deal with some very steep stairs, but the large room, large bathroom, and great view from the balcony are awesome, they do have a web site, the owners are very helpful, and speek perfect english ( i think they may actually be british) there was a free breakfast with was also good. http://www.hoteldemunck.com/

I agree with the Ristaffel suggestion. You won't forget that meal! It's a whole lot of food, but well worth the experience and variety. Be sure to take a canal tour. See the museums and just wander around. We love the Hotel Washington. You can find info on it in the Rants and Raves section of Fodors. Have a grand time. We are looking forward to our next trip this fall, maybe we'll see you there!

illusion321, I was wondering about Hotel de Munck myself. It looks good on its web site, and I found good comments about it when surfing google. We rode by it while cycling along the Amstel. The rates are good, also.

So, it seems that it lives up to the good comments. Did you find it 'central' enough, and clean? Was there any minibar/fridge in the room?
(sorry, if you did a report elsewhere I didn't find it...)

Thanks.

Oops, I just found your trip report...thanks for the feedback on Hotel de Munck.

The Netherlands is not really known for its fine cuisine, but if you want good Dutch food, try Haesje Claes in Amsterdam. They have a website; www.haesjeclaes.nl where you can see their menu.

Restaurants- my favorite subject....
I would recommend a French place
Le Compagnon- (http://www.decompagnon.nl/)not cheap, but great.
It's a bit hard to find. When you follow the directions- keep in mind that it's on a very short dead end street, right by the canal.
For Indonesian I would suggest Kanjil- it's near Jordan.

My favorite place to stay in Amst. is charming belle epoch hotel Krasnopolski (Kras) - lots of character.
the rooms are clean, modern and comfortable and the common rooms are beautiful. Location is great.

The Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky is right on the Dam Square...you can often get the rooms through a discounter such as Discounthotels.com Another great hotel is the Europa which you may want to check out. All depends onn how picky you are in terms of what part of the city you want to stay in.

Netherlands not known for fine cuisine? Someone recommending French? - in Amsterdam? I like to try local cuisine wherever I travel, and there's nothing wrong with Dutch. I'm with illusion321 on this. Why ask for recommendations and then spend ages trying to find them? Why not just walk, sightsee, enjoy, note any eateries along the way that you think might be worth returning to, and when you're ready to eat either return to one of them or find somewhere nice nearby and try it out? "Winging it" is all part of the fun.

Actually, the Kantjil en de Tijger restaurant is on Spuistraat, inside the canal ring, rather than in the Jordaan neighborhood. I agree with Ana222's recommendation, however. It's one of the best Indonesian places in A'dam, though it is lacking in the "native atmosphere" that many of the other Indonesian restaurants cultivate.

Although Dutch food isn't particularly special (think "comfort food" for a cold day), Amsterdam is like New York and London in having a vast array of excellent international cuisine to choose from. French restaurants are in abundance. Ditto Italian. You can find South American steak places, Chinese, Thai, Middle Eastern, North African, and Indian. For food from former colonies, besides Indonesian, try South African or Surinamese. Definitely seek out the Flemish frites ("French" fries) sold in little hole-in-the-wall places and sidewalk stands.

As for hotels, I think a canal-front room is in order. We stayed at the Toren on our last trip. Excellent small place occupying two historic canal houses. This spring we'll be at the Wiechmann... bigger and a bit funkier but the same concept. More upscale versions include the Ambassade and The Canal House.

Sorry for slight misinformation:
Kantjil en de Tijger it is. You can find the exact location on the web.

French food in Amsterdam has it's own twist, just like Belgian French.
Some people like to explore, some people won't make a move without recommendations. I personally know both types- it's just a matter of preference.
BYoung4u2 asked for restaurant recommendations (she didn't specify that they had to be Dutch restaurants only).
I had to mention 2 memorable dining experience I had in Amsterdam. Unfortunately neither of them was at a Dutch restaurant. I love trying local food, but some countries jsut not famed for thier cuisine.
I am glad that someone had a great experience with Dutch food (again it could be just a matter of personal taste).