First time in Amsterdam, what neighborhood to sleep in?

I recently stayed at the Avenue Hotel. It's in the center of Amsterdam and rooms started under 100 Euro a night. The second link is a European hotel discount booking site. Good luck.

http://www.embhotels.nl/en/avenue-hotel/algemeen/home.html

www.venere.com

It is not a RS listing but we found this place to be very nice, in a SE residential neighborhood. It was not too far from the Tropical Museum. We even had a view of a windmill that is part of some restaurant/bar. It's also on a canal, but away from all the central Amsterdam action. We had full acess to the garden terrace, as our room was the bottom floor. Full kitchen, nice bathroom, nicely decorated. Plus a great dutch breakfast everyday that they stock in your room when you leave for the day.

http://www.bedandbreakfast-ij.nl/wd/pages/en/home.php

I believe we only paid 99Euro a night.

The Avenue Hotel is one of my favorites, but I wouldn't classify it as being in a "quiet" neighborhood.

We stay in the 't Hotel on Leliegracht -- on a canal. It's about 2 blocks from the Anne Frank house. It's a very nice location for walking along canals, and it's a pretty quiet neighborhood. If it's a Friday night, and you are close to a pub, it's not quiet. Friday night seems to be THE night of the week to party.

Hampshire Inn Prinsengracht, 1015 Prinsengracht in the Southern Canals. Tram is down the street, hotel in on a canal in a very nice neighborhood. Leidseplein, Rijks are 5 mins walking. Rooms are a little pricey but it is as central location as you can get. Oh it has an elevator too.

In two weeks I'll be staying at a hotel that I hope fits your description, Hotel Hegra. http://www.hotelhegra.nl/ A canal is across the street.

The Jordan is a good area in central A dam