I think the ones around the Damrak offer the perfect combination of being close to the station, not too far to pull the case and there is night time entertainment close by --- you can always go by tram to the Leidesplein and if necessary share a cab back if you miss the last tram - cabs aren't dear from what I remember.
Can't remember the name of the hotel I stayed in last time which was in the Leidesplein area but the two I've stayed in around the Damrak are The Hotel Delta
Amsterdam Hotels,Amsterdam Hotel Delta City Center - now you can have rooms there for
8 people!!! I stayed there with a couple of girl friends as we wanted somewhere central with a room for 3 people - on arrival they gave us a room meant for 6 people so we had loads of space ---- the hotel was very basic though.
The other I've stayed at up that end is the Hotel Luxer
Hotel Luxer which is on the next street to Damrak, between Damrak and the Red Light District. It's another pretty basic one but I've stayed there 2 or 3 times now so it's not that bad (check reviews on all of them on tripadvisor). Got to admit that the reason I love it is that it's central and it's got bars around, a few coffee shops on the same street and some good restaurants on the street - specially the Indonesian one a few buildings down ...... so for me and all my overseas bad habits it's perfect!
Loved the post someone put about the steep staircases - yep that is a Dutch thing - the 2 hotels I've mentioned do have lifts but the one we stayed at last time at the Leidesplein was the funniest thing cos as you walked through the door the steepest staircase was directly in front of you and even though the building had a lift I used to force myself no matter what state I was in to walk/crawl up the stairs - it was like having Everest just there /
No matter what religion you are (if any) I'd always recommend anyone to go to the museum Our Lord In The Attic
Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder
it's an amazing building(s) in which the Dutch built a Catholic Church in the days when Catholics were forbidden to hold Church Services - really is amazing.
See I'm just too excited now at the thought of going back --- did you say we're going next week???
One last thing (and then I promise I will stop waffling on) - not sure about other low cost airlines but Easyjet who I would most probably fly with (from Liverpool) only start selling tickets about 6 months in advance - just checked now and I can only book flights up to 2nd November ---- which don't help me as I want to book to go at the end of November for my 40th birthday
