Recommendations for Lodging in Amsterdam

[bltkmt]

We were just in Amsterdam for a week in August and loved it. We did an AirBB in the Jordaan area - a bit more quiet but easy to walk to things. IMO, it is a bit crazy down by the train station and red light district. If I may, two things in particular that we found to be fun:

1. We did a small boat canal cruise with "Emily Has A Boat". She is an American expat that moved to Amsterdam a few years ago and bought a small wooden boat that can hold 4-5 people. She serves craft beer and snacks and is a delight. As the boat is smaller, it can go into the smaller canals unlike the big tour boats. Fun. You can reach her through her Instagram page @emilyhasaboat.

2. We did an overnight trip to Bruges via train. Bruges is beautiful, but crowded and touristy. What was fun was renting electric bikes there and riding out to Damme. Beautiful ride along a canal in the country and Damme is a neat old village with a few very good restaurants.

Enjoy. We are semi-seriously considering retiring to Europe in a few years and Amsterdam is definitely on "the list".

 

[Trooper]

On our way back home we stayed at De Vink B&B
It’s like 26 km from AMS
Unbelievable place
See for yourself https://www.devinkbb.nl/?lang=en

Looks nice wanabe. Concerned about what to do in the area (for a first-timer), and the distance to City Center. We will be probably be spending each day in the City so is that a lot of train time to and fro?

 

[Trooper]

We were just in Amsterdam for a week in August and loved it. We did an AirBB in the Jordaan area - a bit more quiet but easy to walk to things. IMO, it is a bit crazy down by the train station and red light district. If I may, two things in particular that we found to be fun:

1. We did a small boat canal cruise with "Emily Has A Boat". She is an American expat that moved to Amsterdam a few years ago and bought a small wooden boat that can hold 4-5 people. She serves craft beer and snacks and is a delight. As the boat is smaller, it can go into the smaller canals unlike the big tour boats. Fun. You can reach her through her Instagram page @emilyhasaboat.

2. We did an overnight trip to Bruges via train. Bruges is beautiful, but crowded and touristy. What was fun was renting electric bikes there and riding out to Damme. Beautiful ride along a canal in the country and Damme is a neat old village with a few very good restaurants.

Enjoy. We are semi-seriously considering retiring to Europe in a few years and Amsterdam is definitely on "the list".

Thanks for the tips, bltkmt. We're leaning toward an AirBnB outside of the city as well - cheaper, less crazy, and with the great public transportation, easy enough to go into the city everyday.

Craft beer and a canal ride sound awesome! I've heard Bruges is nice also. We will stop in Bruges as part of our cruise so perhaps we'll have time time to do that ride.

I see you're from Fairfield County. I was born on the west side of Stamford in the late 50s

 

[Bamaman]

They have Van der Valk Hotel Schiphol and then they have the new Van der Valk hotel in the city. Because these are business hotels predominantly, they're often overlooked by individuals.

Our room at the airport had huge leather couches in addition to 3 beds, and it's a bargain by Amsterdam prices. They ran us over to the airport by shuttle to the train going downtown in 15 minutes.

 

[LastOfTheBoomers]

Stayed at Hotel V Frederiksplein about a mile from the train station - took a cab to the hotel but took the tram back when we checked out - the tram stopped right in front of the hotel.

Walked everywhere - seemed central enough.

Loved the Heineken Brewery tour!

 

[BigNick]

We've stayed a few times at the airport Ramada. This is a short (free) shuttle bus ride from Schiphol, which is your starting point for travel into the city. We like this hotel because it's very quiet, the rooms are outstanding value (you can often get them for less than 100 Euros, which is way cheaper than a Hilton/Sheraton-type room in Amsterdam itself), and there is a nice restaurant 100 metres away at the intersection on the way into the village of Badhoevedorp.