Can someone recommend a nice comfortable 3 or 4 star hotel handy to the centre of Amsterdam, maybe on a canal.

We stayed at a great B&B over Easter 2008 called Boogaards

http://www.boogaardsbnb.com/

It was central and walking distance from everything.

Have a look at the Netherlands forum at tripadvisor.com. User MrJohnMd has a thread for recent Priceline wins for Amsterdam and some of the deals are great... a 5 star hotel for under 100 dollars is a deal!

Before using Name Your Own Price at Priceline learn some how tos at betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com

Worth checking out...

Hi

I have stayed at www.nadia.nl 2x and found it serviceable. Nothing fancy, yet clean, safe and breakfast included. The owners were pleasant and helpful.
Not 4* by any means yet in a great location.

My sister and I stayed at http://www.vrbo.com/82969 and loved it.
The owner was super friendly and the houseboat was clean and comfortable.
It wasnt exactly in the city center but the tram ran one block away .

I would stay at either place again.

I loved staying at Seven Bridges. Great location and beautiful rooms. Very unique. Big breakfast.

http://www.sevenbridgeshotel.nl/

Others to consider-

http://www.lecoin.nl/indexEN.html

http://www.bedandbreakfastamsterdam.com/

Your interests will make a difference on where you should stay. I have stayed at both the Nadia Hotel and Lil Bear Houseboat mentioned above in a previous reply. The houseboat is great, but is not really near any nightlife; it is a very safe area near the university. The Nadia in ok, but does have long stairs to your rooms and small ones at that. It is near the the Dam Square and not far from the action of the Red Light District and it's nightlife. The main area for nightlife, with music venues, bars and cofeehouses are Leidseplein and Rembvr5ant plein, and each has it own character.