Amsterdam hotels & stuff to do

You can get quickly from the airport to Amsterdam Centraal station by train. They go every 15 minutes or so. Get a tram pass at the tourist bureau outside the station. Hotels in Amsterdam are pricey, so brace yourself.

We stayed at Hotel Brouwer. For Amsterdam it's pretty reasonable. It was an easy walk to and from the Centraal Station. I've also heard the Rho Hotel is a good value.

Have always been there off season but even though we did not have a problem, recommend getting tickets to Anne frank museum before to save waiting in line. We enjoyed the Pancake House not too far away, maybe a couple of blocks away. Some of our best foods were from what I would call a "deli" where we could just point out what we wanted and ate at a deli counter. Enjoy your trip whatever you do.

Suggest you get a copy of RS Amsterdam Guide Book, if you do not have it already, which is full of very useful information that we use every time we stay in Amsterdam. We have also stayed in Haarlem which is only a 10 minute of so train ride from Central Station and is much less expensive than Amsterdam and not nearly so crowded.

You might want to take a look at the Netherlands country listing under Travel Forum -- Destination Q&A if you haven't already. Questions and answers specific to Amsterdam will be more thoroughly discussed there.

We bought an IAmsterdam pass which we could use for public transportation and which also allowed us to bypass the lines at the major museums (but not Anne Frank House, for which we bought tickets at home and printed them out; these also allowed us to bypass the lines).

As for an hotel, we stayed at the Aalders, which I highly recommend. It is very near the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum and also very near a tram line.

Enjoy Amsterdam!

We usually stay out at Amsterdam Zuid--by the Olympic Stadium. Unfortunately our old B&B was sold for condos. Garden View Bed and Breakfast is close by. We've found that staying the suburbs is so much cheaper than city center, and we can easily be downtown in 15 minutes via trams. We also like being in a normal Dutch neighborhood.

We once stayed at Hotel Schipol, which is a very large business hotel on the motorway 3-4 miles west of the airport. They have a shuttle car which can take you to the airport where you catch a train. It's absolutely the best hotel and travel bargain we've ever had anywhere in Europe--including rooms/suites for large families.
https://www.hotelschiphol.nl/en/

If you use GoogleMaps and magnify the pages using the "+", B&B's icons will show up. It's a good source of rooms.

July 2012 stayed at a great B&B in a charming canal house (with charming host) that I found in RS book. Sunhead 1617 (address: Herengracht 152). RS style, from the airport I would take the train to the main train station and the Tram from the front plaza of the train station took us quickly there (Tram 13 or 17 to Westermarkt . Buy tkt on tram.) . Our flight home was ridiculously early in the morning so I broke down and booked a taxi (about 25 minutes and 20-25 euro). The hotel location was delightful, about 10 minutes walk from Anne Frank house, in the heart of the old city and on one of the main canals. If you don't book the AF house tickets ahead, they are less busy at the end of the day and you can get in then. I don't think things will be very busy in April though. Loved the Van Gogh Musuem, learned so much about him (get the audio tour). Avoid the disgusting Pancake House (someone recommended above, worst meal in 3 countries that trip), recommend delicious Seasons Restaurant (best meal in 3 countries that trip).

In Amsterdam I normally stay at the Hotel Piet Hein across from Vondel Park. It has fairly large, comfortable rooms at a reasonable (for Amsterdam) price, has its own small bar and it is close to all of the art museums - Van Gogh, Reichsmuseum (sic), etc and also handy for the Leidseplein entertainmentt area. For that matter it is within easy walking distance of the Pipes restaurant and bar district, a favorite neighborhood for many locals.