Amsterdam - good inexpensive hotel near airport and in city center?

This is going to be tough. Amsterdam is an expensive city for sleeping. And a major issue you will have is you are booking at the last minute. All the places that are not expensive were snapped up months ago. Just 2 or 3 weeks out? You're going to need to be very flexible or very lucky (probably both).

There are a bunch of chain hotels right at the airport which are not super-expensive (you'll need to take a shuttle bus to reach them).

In the city...you want "good", "inexpensive" and "in the city center". I'm not aware of any that meet all three criteria (especially booking just 2 weeks out). You can't have all three. Pick two, and then you'll at least have some choices (depends on your definition of "expensive"). Rick's Amsterdam book has lots of suggestions for accommodations. Note that many people opt to stay outside of Amsterdam to keep costs down, you may want to consider doing that, too.

I am interested in this as well. We are spending 2 nights in Amsterdam in late October. Can anyone recommend a city center, moderately priced hotel near attractions? I was also considering an airbnb but may not be worth it for 2 nights.

As an update - I decided to take the easy way out and booked a 2-night stay at the CitizenM hotel at Schiphol Airport. Yes, it's a chain, and it's modern rather than characterful -- but looks like it has good reviews, and it seems close to the airport for public transportation. Because David (above) is correct: this is pretty last-minute. I decided not to move myself and bags to a city center hotel for the second night, but will utilize the train or bus to get into the city (or out to Keukenhof if I decide I need to see the tulips!) from the convenient transport hub of the airport. And when I need to take the train to Frankfurt, the Schiphol airport train station looks like it's right there. Hope this seems like a good plan, veteran Amsterdam travelers?

Given the late date and your constraints, it's not a bad plan. Check the details for getting to/from the hotel to the airport itself and/or other transport connections. Last year when I had an unexpected overnight in AMS, we stayed at one of those chain hotels at the airport. It was fine, not terribly charming but met our needs, and getting to/from it was painless. If you plan to be out late in the city center you will need to note the availability of any free (or not free) transport between the airport and your hotel (some of the free shuttles may run infrequently).

Seems like a reasonable plan, especially for such a short stay. You'll save time with packing/unpacking, checking in and out, and transferring bags to a new hotel in the city. You can use that time for the sightseeing you came to do. If you were staying a week it would be a different tradeoff and most of us would recommend a centrally located hotel.