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Close to the Amstel, on a peaceful canal, the Fantasia Hotel is clean and well organized. The rooms on the top floor have the most character, but all rooms have a shower and a phone.

Originally built for a ship’s captain and within hailing distance of the Amstel, an otherwise traditional interior has been given a dose of 1960s retro. Rooms in the De Munck are airy and clean, and there is both a bar and a garden.

The idea of staying on a boat has a certain charm, but the downside of the Amstel Botel is that the rooms (or cabins if you prefer) on this floating hotel are small, and even the view over the water is dull. The upside is getting three-star accommodation at a very reasonable price. Due to building work on Ooster- dokskade the Botel will be moored at Van Riems- dijkweg until 2008/2009.

Clean, cheap, simple rooms away from the tourist traps, bikes for rent, free maps, and friendly advice on routes and sights attract a young clientele. What might be a lounge elsewhere is “a chill-out zone” here in De Pijp.

You can peer down into the lovely Rijksmuseum garden from the plain rooms at the back of this modest hotel occupying the top floors of a Victorian house. The Museumzicht’s greatest asset is its splendid location.

Steep stairs, simple rooms (some with epic canal views) and a pleasant breakfast room are a quarter of an hour’s walk away from the city centre, in Jordaan. The charming owners also offer self-catering studios, and a houseboat on a nearby canal.

Great location, rooms for up to four people and budget prices sound like a pipe dream, but this welcoming hotel at the station end of the Keizersgracht has them all – and a bar and restaurant to boot.

At the junction of Herensgracht and Reguliersgracht, and with views over both, this friendly hotel’s beamed bedrooms are bigger than most, and it’s close enough to the nightlife for breakfast to be optional.

Far from the madding crowd on a residential backstreet, this spruce little hotel has decentsized bedrooms and a touch of style in its 19thcentury moulded ceilings. Breakfast is included in the room price.

Its prime location on the lovely Herengracht, its prices and the warmth of its welcome make up for the (comfortable) rooms being rather on the small side.