What is going on last week of July in Amsterdam?

They have one of the biggest gay pride festivals in the world and it is that week. Not sure if that has such a big effect on hotel availability but maybe. Have you thought of checking hotels in Haarlem - that would add 1/2 hour or so to your train ride to Switzerland.

The International Aids Conference is listed on the convention calendar (7/22-7/24) and they expect 18,000 participants.

https://www.iamsterdam.com/en/business/meetings/why-amsterdam/convention-calendar/international-aids-conference-2018

I see that the World Congress on Oncology & Immuno Oncology is also listed (different calendar) but probably doesn't eat up as many hotel rooms.

https://immuno-oncology.euroscicon.com

Pride doesn't start until 7/29 (until 8/6) but there could be holdovers from the Aids Conference as they're about a week apart.

Interesting. My husband is an oncologist/ Hematologist, but he doesn't!t go to meetings any more, so was not aware of this. We do not have a choice of dates or location, but we will make the best of it. Thanks for the information.

You can also easily stay in Utrecht, a nice city in its own right and with trains running several times per hour only 30 mins from both Schiphol airport and Amsterdam itself. Depending on the route of your train to Switzerland chances are that you can also board at Utrecht.

Haarlem is really very easy to get to from Amsterdam. It's a quick and easy train ride back and forth.

We day-tripped to Edam from Amsterdam and enjoyed that one very much. Certainly a place I'd consider staying for a day or two, and it's only 40 minutes by (comfortable) bus from Centraal. Volendam is right next door and the two villages virtually connect so it's a double bonus. Volendam is larger so you could look at accommodations there as well.

We are stopping in Amsterdam on our way to Switzerland to see friends who moved there recently. They will be working during the day, and suggested we stay near the main train station for convenience to the airport and the main tourist sights of Amsterdam. Then we will visit with them in the evening.

Since this is our first stop after the long flight from Seattle we would like to make it easy. But I see the train ride from airport to Utrecht is only slightly longer, and the train we would take to Basel two days later does stop in Utrecht on the way. So we will ask our friends what they think of that idea. Depending on where their home is, it may or may not work out.

Lola, I don't know as it's mandatory to stay close to the train station? You can just as easily grab a cab to some other parts of the city, and those don't have to be far away. I plugged your dates into booking.com (July 24-26) and there are any number of accommodations which still have openings.

Just as a for-instance? Take a look at this one (a twin room but that might be OK for a couple of nights):
https://tinyurl.com/ybedhk2q

It's not all that far from the train station at all; many guest have remarked how close it is!

Utrecht is a nice city, especially around the Dom tower, and not so overcrowded with tourists.