Please tell us about the Old Quarter. We are mother &. Son & we like to be a quirky, comfy & cozy rooms. with a nice view but not far from the fun. Is Old Quarter a fun place to stay since the bars downstairs?
Please let us know of a fun place in the middle of all the fun!!!
We also want to add an awesome Food Tour & also a tour of the Jewish ghettos. I’ll be trying yo get our Anne Frank tickets into the house !!! Please give us you best suggestions as where to stay!! Thanks!
Everyone will tell you what a bad idea it is staying in the RLD. You need to prepare yourself for the madness if you're game for that.
I actually rate the streets with canals in De Wallen as some of the most beautiful in Amsterdam, if you catch them in the right light. I haven't looked, but I'd bet there may be some beautiful apartments on rental platforms there as the buildings are all of a real age.
edit: I looked on AirBnB and there wasn't actually much that I liked right in the De Wallen / Oude Kerk area. Others can suggest better options, like the Jordaan, or even around Leidseplein if you wanted somewhere busier.
We never stayed there; but, you might consider one of the bridge houses. I’m fascinated by these. I think SWEETS is the name of the company.
To be CLEAR - your question is about staying at the Hotel Old Quarter which also has a bar in its main level? I think I'd choose slightly more off-the-beaten-path for bars, restaurants, and hotel, but some folks really like that energy.
From a location perspective, the HOQ definitely is down there near a lot of the tourist traffic. I personally prefer to stay a bit further "out" towards the main canals or, most recently, out in Leidseplein closer to the Vondelpark. I think Jordaan would be lovely, and both are better for getting to something like the Anne Frank House (Jordaan is right there, and walking down a canal like the Prinsengracht from Leidsenplein to the AFH is nice).
In Amsterdam, pre-WWI, there was a vibrant Jewish community (Jodenbuurt). In WWII, of course, the Nazis took advantage of that situation and greatly restricted Jewish rights and movement (and eventually full on persecution & deportation to concentration camps), and now the area has a mixture of Jewish history, Holocaust related history, and synagogues & other culturally significant places.
Perhaps fulfilling your "quirky and comfy" option, the Banks Mansion Hotel would work - closer to the the Jewish area, but also out of the busier touristy area (but tourism is every where in Amsterdam).
Know nothing about the hotel, it is certainly right in the center of the action, the street the hotel is on is busy with pedestrian traffic, bars, and restaurants, but nothing of the storied "red light activity" the district is known for. I would dig through the reviews looking for noise complaints, if things seem OK, then it is probably fine. Places that most on here prefer, take with a grain of salt in that they are also an order of magnitude more expensive, you to a degree, get what you pay for.
For others commenting about the Red Light District, be advised the term refers to a large are, not just the few streets where activity occurs. Amsterdam has also worked hard to clean up the area and red light activity has been severely curtailed, with the eventual goal of moving most activity to off-street venues. Unfortunately though, as the number of windows have decreased, they simply have been replaced with tacky souvenir shops and other tourist offerings.
Aren’t all the Red Light District hotels filled with characters?
I think you'd need to keep an open mind about who your fellow guests are at some hotels around The Dam / RLD etc. Noise / trouble / strong smell of weed are all things I'd prepare myself for encountering in lodgings on Damrak for instance.
Couple of us have mentioned Leidseplein. That's a buzzy area with lots of entertainment, but it's more where young Dutch folk go out to party, than other more touristy places closer to The Dam.
