I need advice regarding where to stay in Amsterdam. We are a family of four (with two teenagers) and will be spending five days there mid-August. My son has reasearched a bit and says that Jordaan area seems interesting. Are houseboats a good option when travelling with kids (15 and 16 yr old)? Is this expensive? We do not want to spend a lot of money, as this stay is at the end of a three-weeks trip.

Thanks in advance...

I stayed in a houseboat two years ago for several nights with my then 10 year old daughter and we loved it! I found it on www.vrbo.com. But I also googled 'houseboats in Amsterdam' and found many other options. We were in a very good, central, safe and yet quiet location near Rembrandtplein. I would do it again in a minute. We had much more fun than staying in a hotel. The price was reasonable too.

We are also a family of four and we will be in Amsterdam around July 4. I didn't realized that finding a hotel for 4 was a bit difficult for many hotels do not accommodate for 4. Take a look at www.amsterdamby.com which allow you to see various hotels by locations and it listed rooms with # of people along with prices. We are booked with Hoter Westertoran (near the Queen's Palace) for about 140euro/day. will post after trip

You can also view locations and read user reviews at www.channels.nl

VeraB, we enjoyed the Hotel Brouwer. here is there website. It has a good location, though not a houseboat. Have a great trip. www.hotelbrouwer.nl

the Jordaan
Vondelpark
Leidseplein

are all good areas to stay imo

I second Suze's suggestions for area's to stay.

Listen to your son. since he seems interested in helping with planning, maybe ask him to do a bit more research and find out hotel prices for you. Sorry don't know about houseboats myself.

We're also going to Amsterdam, but in September. We looked into houseboats, and if we had a family, I would have jumped at the chance. I heard about houseboats from a colleague who stayed in one and loved it. She recommended the following site:

http://www.houseboathotel.nl

We booked our B&B through http://www.amsterdamby.com, like the other poster suggested. Great service and great reviews on TripAdvisor for the place we chose.

I found a site that had some
info on here to stay in Amsterdam
that was quite close to the airport.

NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky is
situated opposite the Royal Palace
and approximately 10 miles from
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

www.redtag.ca

In what months is it warm enough to be in a houseboat comfortably? I'm a real wimp when it comes to cold.

Our family of four stayed in two connecting rooms at the Hotel Residence le Coin, which is centrally located in old Amsterdam, just across from the very classy Hotel de L'Europe and down the street from the equally classy Hotel Doelan. It's a great neighborhood, with cafes and restaurants. I highly recommend this hotel. Very friendly and reasonably priced. Rooms all have kitchenettes, too, which helps with kids along. Bathrooms are large. The rooms are fairly new.

You can stay at houseboats in Amsterdam? Oh maaan!! I wish I had known that when I went! Now that sounds like a really fun idea! Must keep it in mind for the next trip.

Suze's suggestions are good locations.

I have stayed in Jordaan 2 times and love that area. I think a houseboat would be great with the kids.

You will be close to Anne Frank house. It is a MUST for everyone visiting Amsterdam. IMO

Let me know what you find. I am also looking for 6nights accomodations for family of 4 in august. We rented an apartment in Paris for 8 nights, and will then be travelling in Belgium for a few more nights before comming to Amsterdam. I heard Haarlem was a good alternative to Amsterdam? For hotel rooms to be affortable for 4 people, you need to get 2 cheap rooms which are usually very tiny.

&quot;Maureen's&quot; <b>Residence le Coin</b>:
http://www.lecoin.nl/indexEN.html
Quad for 218&euro;

<b>Hotel Washington</b>
http://www.hotelwashington.nl/
Contact for rates, but expect between 110-200&euro; for a Quad

<b>Owl Hotel</b>
http://www.owl-hotel.nl/
Quad 130-175&euro;

<b>Hotel Bellington</b>
http://www.hotel-bellington.com/
Contact for Quad rates

And the Hotel Residence le Coin has nice connecting twin rooms, which is what we did for our family of four. It gave us two bathrooms, which helps (and a door that closes between the rooms!).

Try also a great B&amp;B called Boogards. You can have one whole floor for a family of 4 including living room and self contained kitchen, bathroom with washer/dryer and two lovely bedrooms.
Very reasonably priced, great location near Leidseplein.
www.boogardsbnb.com I think.
I have commented previously on this one.

sorry, that should be
www.boogaardsbnb.com

Also have a look at apartments in Amsterdam. We stayed in a lovely one on the Singel canal which we found at the Sunhead of 1617 website. Not only do you get lots of space and separate bedrooms, but you can save a bit on restaurants as well.