All RS hotel suggestions booked up

When you say you checked the RS suggestions have you called or emailed them? Or just looked on their website or a booking website? I think it's probably just a bit too early for next October.

Also good to note that RS suggestions are just a minute % of the hotels in Amsterdam and you may need to branch out to other booking methods.

Also, try to find an event calendar for Amsterdam. It is possible that you could be bumping into a major fall event that sucks up all the rooms.

Pippa: For starters, you are trying to book a room almost a year ahead, which as you suspect, is too soon. Secondly, there are many hotels, perfectly nice places, not listed in a Rick Steves book. In a few months, have a look at the Owl Hotel.

We liked The Bridge Hotel; not fussy but well located right by the Skinny Bridge. Book a room with a canal-view balcony 'cause they're worth the extra $$.

Norma is absolutely right.. too early... and you are choosing from too small a selection.. there are many nice hotels.. do not limit yourself to RS picks.

I am staying at the Hotel Brouwer in Amsterdam this June and I am very excited.. because it looks exactly like the type of place I will love.. I have read reviews on NUMEROUS sites .. and the location is perfect for our short visit. I have been to Amsterdam 3 times before and liked all the hotels( last time was the Park.. but its a bit too modern for us , good location though) I have chosen.. but this time our budget is a bit tighter so I had to get creative. Don't limit yourself to one recommended list from anyone.

Anyways.. this hotel seems like the sort RS would recommend.. but if he does he may ruin it.. small family run places can get overloaded easily.. so hopefully RS never recommends it.

www.hotelbrouwer.nl

I think you are just tooo early. I also tried to book a RS hotel in September 2016. The dates came back as not available. I emailed the hotel and they do not have their rates set for Sept of 2016, so are not yet taking reservations. They did say they would hold a room for me and get back to me when they have their Sept rates complete.

Anyways.. this hotel seems like the sort RS would recommend.. but if
he does he may ruin it.. small family run places can get overloaded
easily.. so hopefully RS never recommends it.

www.hotelbrouwer.nl

Hotel Brouwer has been listed in Rick's guidebook for over 15 years, and featured in one of his TV shows.

I stayed at Hotel Brouwer last month and liked the location. It's cheaper than the place where I used to stay (Quentin Arrive Hotel, which I like very much and recommend you take a look whenever they're taking reservations for next October). Breakfast is included at Hotel Brouwer and is very good. The hotel is in a 17th-century building and did not soundproof its windows, so even though I was on the fourth floor, I heard all the street noise clearly and wore earplugs at night.

Thank you all for your input. I did check the events calendar and nothing doing so I think it is just too early. I like to get ahead of the game though. We are doing RS Basque tour and have a couple of days in Amsterdam so wanted to complete all the bookings.
Pippa

I agree with Nancy that it's a good idea to email. You often get better rates when you book through email instead of using a website.

Check Tripadvisor. The "traveler photos" are extremely accurate, and you will be able to select the hotel that meets your specific needs. In our experience the RS recommended hotels are good about 50% of the time. My theory is that a certain complacency occurs in hotels when you know you can count on the RS demographic. Some of the RS hotels have been superb (like the Pushka Inn in St. Petersburg) and some have been touristy and over-priced like the K and K Opera Hotel in Budapest. Amsterdam has a myriad number of choices. Tripadvisor will help you find a place. Pay particular attention to how many reviews an individual reviewer has posted. If they have done many reviews you can rely on their information as being accurate.

I always check Trip Advisor but they have changed the way things are displayed and I find it difficult and frustrating to navigate these days. They don't seem to want to let you know how accomodations are ranked any more.

Pippa,
The new Tripadvisor site is actually much better than the old one, but I also had trouble figuring it out at first. If you look at the tabs at the top of the page (Amsterdam Hotels) it shows tabs that allow you to filter the hotel listing by category. "Ranking" is one of those tabs. "Availability" is another. On the left side of the page you can select additional filters for price and location as well as things such as "free Wi-Fi " or "swimming pool", etc
Using those filters actually makes the search process a lot more efficient. Of course once you find a hotel that meets your needs you still often have to ferret out the hotel's website. I NEVER book through third party sites, but always contact the hotel directly. Hope this helps.

Try www.booking.com and also, there is no need to book that far in advance. Don't limit yourself to Rick Steves' recommendations.

Right. We've never used a Steves' hotel but have never gone wrong with our booking.com choices.

Thank you Traveling Mum. Will try it. I agree with Booking.com. Used them a lot. Their hotels in Amsterdam seem rather pricey though but I think all of A is so will have to raise the bar I suppose!

Just one more word about the TA hotel reviews...their default search term seems to be (at least for me) their Just For You tab. Make sure you change that to either Ranking or Availability as mentioned above. The Just for You is so dumb. No, from my search and posting pattern, they most definitely cannot decide what is best for me! There is no way to change the default permanently either.

Pippa -- I'm not sure what you mean by medium price, but if you're willing to splurge a bit, we stayed in a wonderful tiny b&b (2 suites) right on the Prinsengracht canal last year, called Bij Tijn op de Gracht. Our favorite place to stay ever. We had a whole wall of windows overlooking the canal, with a view that took our breath away when we first walked in. Made-to-order breakfasts, huge bathroom, fresh roses in bud vases. Just elegant. About half-way between museum district and train station so we were able to walk everywhere. (And a wonderful ice cream -- gelato? -- shop on the ground floor.) It does have the steep narrow stairs of a canal house, so is best for light packers. Highly recommended.

Agree that it is too early to book. The place recommended by Charlene looks great. On our last trip to A'dam we happened to walk past Hotel Browaer and it had zero curb appeal--looked run down really--and the noise factor would be a real turn off.

Don't say if you have found a room yet- or what your price range is- but my daughter travels to Amsterdam quite a bit for research and has stayed at the NH Amsterdam City Centre several times.
Convenient location- can walk everywhere- very hearty bkft- sign up for their membership program for a discount.
If she stays longer than 3 nights she books apartments thru airbnb and has stayed at some very nice places.

I have stayed in NH hotels in other European cities and altho they are a chain they are always pretty nice- well appointed etc. I believe they have several locations in Amsterdam but the City Centre is located in an old Amsterdam building right near Spui.