Help ....first time to Amsterdam
 

This is our first time in Amsterdam and will be there only one day and night before and after cruise to Norway....what hotel do you recommend....we may change our flight so that we can stay at least 3 days in Amsterdam and maybe do some side trips and sightseeing....what do you recommend?

How much do you want to spend?

Did you use the Search This Forum box above? Type in Amsterdam hotel.

Side trips and sightseeing? Type in windmills, etc.

I just returned from a 6 day stay in Amsterdam. Got my Hotel on Expedia and it was fabulous. The Hotel Bilderburg very near the Riksmuseum and walkable to nearly everywhere. Canal boats can take you other places, like the Anne Frank House which is worth waiting in line. The Hotel is 5 star,wonderful staff, helpful for sightseeing, gourmet restaurant on property, robes and slippers in room, big down duvets, air-conditioning, 2 apples on a plate at turndown. We paid 153.00 american for a room that usually goes for 3X that. A great city to explore.

The Anne Frank House, absolutely. I've been to Amsterdam twice to see the house, and it's quite humbling to see how Anne and her fellow Jews were hidden there for so long, right in the middle of the city. Take the canal cruise, too. I enjoyed hanging out at Dam Square, and watching the carnival rides and the people. There's a department store near by with a cafeteria that has a great view of the Square. I had an excellent walnut pastry there!

Not only in Amsterdam there is enough to see and do (Rijksmuseum, VanGoghmuseum, Rembrandthouse, Ann Frank house, boattrip through the canals, redlight district etc.) but also in the cities like haarlem, The Hague, Delft you can spend hours. Public transport is very good, so it is easy to get there.
Some hotels:
Hotel Brouwer: http://www.hotelbrouwer.nl/index.html

Hotel Barbizan Palace:http://www.nh-hotels.com/listapaises...on_palace.html

Movenpick Hotel at the cruise-terminal: http://www.moevenpick-hotels.com/hot...telWelcome.htm (opens October 2006)

Hotel Pulitzer: http://www.pulitzer.nl/templates/mer...p?page_id=4607

Hotel Le coin: http://www.lecoin.nl/indexEN.html

Hotel Estherea: http://www.estherea.nl/estherea_content.html

Hotel Aalders:
http://www.amsterdam-info.com/Hotel_..._Amsterdam.htm

Hotel Piet Hein: http://www.hotelpiethein.nl/engels.html

Hotel Jan Luyken: http://www.janluyken.nl/janluyken/

Lloyd Hotel: http://www.lloydhotel.com/

More budget:Hotel Kap www.kaphotel.nl/
Hotel de Munck www.hoteldemunck.com/

Also NH hotels (a.o. Krasnapolsky), Ramada, Ibis, have hotels at a moderate rate.

Thanks so much for all the good info...has anyone stayed at the Hilton (at the Schiphol airport), the Radisson SAS Hotel on Rusland 17, or the Swissotel Amsterdam on Damrak 96...I have been looking at these but not sure which is the best location...I think the Hilton would be convenient for the last night before flight....bu how about the other two?

In terms of location:

Bear in mind that the trains take only 20 minutes to get to Schiphol from Central Station. Unless you've got a mobility problem or more luggage than you can handle or a flight at really unsocial hours (though the trains run hourly until 5am and then every 15 minutes after that), there's no great advantage to staying out at the airport.

The Swissotel is right on Dam Square at the bottom of Damrak (the main street running from Central Station): you're on top of all the trams you could want, but the street outside is likely to be noisy and crowded all day and a large chunk of the night.

Rusland looks on the map to be alarmingly close to the more rackety bits of the Red Light District, but it's a bit south and east of there, nearer the university and the Sunday book market on Oudemanshuispoort. This is likely to be a quieter location than Damrak.

marking

There's lot's to see in Amsterdam but believe it or not you can get alot done in 1 day. It's not that big. Anne Frank in the morning and then a walking tour followed by the Van Gogh Museum. If you like beer do the Heineken Brewery tour. End your day with a tour of the Red Light District.

I'd also recommend the Anne Frank house as well as a trip to see the flower auction. That was really amazing to see, although you do need to get up pretty early to see it.

Are you going on a Baltic cruise or a mediterranean cruise?

I would recommend the Swissotel. Ask for a quiet room. The location is ideal and the staff is friendly. If you have time, catch the train into Haarlem and see the Frans Hal museum, as well as the magnificent St. Bavo cathedral. An afternoon in Delft would be worthwhile as well.

If you can work in a few extra days for Amsterdam you won't be disappointed.