What area of Amsterdam is the best location for sight seeing and safety? We are going on a River Cruise in April and need a recommendation for lodging.

You haven't stated your budget, but you might like the Estherea:

http://www.estherea.nl/en/index.html

Absolutely lovely hotel, well located, and fantastic breakfast.

I love Mae's B&B in Jordaan area near Anne Frank House. Immaculate, great breakfast, large modern rooms especially the canal house on the Singel. Vlad and Ken are tops in taking care of their guests needs.

I have stayed at the Estherea and was very happy there. A more modest hotel I also enjoyed is the Hotel Fita, a stone's throw from the Rijksmuseum. It is nothing fancy but the staff couldn't be nicer and the breakfast was very good.

I find Amsterdam small enough that walking pretty well everywhere is feasible. If you are there before a cruise why not stay at the Moevenpick? It's very modern and right where most of the cruises depart from. Some will say it's inconveniently located but it's only 10 minutes on foot from Central Station and 15 from Dam Square. When we were there we had fun trying different ways to get to and from the hotel. And there's a free shuttle to the station as well as a tram stop at the door. Last I heard the Segway tours started from there which is enough reason for me to stay! LOL

If you'd like a 4 or 5 star hotel in the $100 US a night range check out the "Bidding on a 4 star..." and "Bidding on a 5 star..." threads in the Netherlands forum at http://TripAdvisor.com Amsterdam is one of the best cities to use Priceline's "NYOP". Follow the advice about bidding on the 2 most central zones and it's hard to go wrong.

You really can't go wrong in Amsterdam on location except in the seedy area just east of the main train station - the Zeedijk, a dicey red-light district with many dumpy cheap hotels and lots of seedy folk running amok day and night - noise always it seems.

Some folks love the canals west and south of the train station - others like the Museum Plein area - and for efficacy yes the Movenpick or hotel boat by the cruise ship dock may be nice too.

nvgary which cruise are you going on, what date? I too am going on a river cruise in April starting in Amsterdam to Basel.

Hotel City Garden is in a good part of town next to the Vondelpark. The rooms were clean and pretty inexpensive when I stayed there in March of 2012. It is on the best shopping street in the Netherlands too, PC Hooftstraat.

the Vondel Park area is my favorite hotel area and have stayed there many times - very very quiet and in many ways more real with local restaurants, cafes, etc than you find a few miles away in the centrum.

Any ones in particular in the Vondel park area, PalenQ?

jjude - No, actually the one I often stayed at was a monastery - of sorts - a former monastery changed into a budget hotel but closed up after a few years.

So do but there are several I have seen that look very sedate and nice.

I am considering the B&B options for the wonderful breakfasts and intimate settings, usually.

www.airbnb.com is a middle thing between a B&b owner and clientle - for authentic B&Bs - in folks residences and not the glitzy "B&B" that are more like upscale hotels.

We recently stayed at the Doubletree Hilton next door to the Central Train Station (I believe the Movenpick was just beyond). The hotel was ideally located. It was a 10-15 minute walk to the Dam Square. Along the way you can go to the Lord in the Attic museum, the Oude Kirk, through the red light district to the Square where you can tour through the Queen's Palace and the New Kirk. A short distance away from there is the Anne Frank House. I would suggest getting tickets well in advance. Fortunately we did have our tickets as when we got there was quite a long line of at least 100 people. The Amsterdam Museum is quite close to the Square as well.

I recommend the Hotel Piet Hein;

It's right next to Vondelpark and within easy walking distance of the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk modern art museum, and the Concertgebouw for classical music, as well as tram lines leading to various parts of the city. Also convenient to several excellent restaurantys

Excellent breakfast. Sleekly modern look.

http://www.hotelpiethein.com/home.html

What about near the cruise port? Is there good transportation into the city if we pick one near the dock?