Best Value
Taking all factors into account -- price, location, facilities, hospitality, Dutchness, and that indefinable element that makes a stay memorable -- the Estheréa, Singel 303-309 (tel. 020/624-5146), is the best value in town.

Best for Tradition
Die Port van Cleve, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 176-180 (tel. 020/714-2000), is one of Amsterdam's oldest hotels, but has entirely modernized rooms, so you can celebrate the 17th century in 21st-century comfort.

Best for Families
The Amstel Botel, NDSM-Werf 3 (tel. 020/626-4247). It's hard to beat a floating hotel that you reach by boat. Among its neighbors are a retired Soviet attack sub, a Greenpeace warrior of the seas, and the "Pancake Boat."

Best for Business Travelers
The NH Barbizon Palace, Prins Hendrikkade 59-72 (tel. 020/556-4564), is modern, luxurious, stylish, efficient, and has an excellent location -- opposite Centraal Station -- and a full range of business facilities.

Best Unknown Hotel
This accolade goes to Seven Bridges, Reguliersgracht 31 (tel. 020/623-1329), for its combination of location, decor, personal service, enthusiastic owners, and general all-round quality.

Best Budget Hotel
Many cheap hotels in Amsterdam leave a lot to be desired. Not so the Museumzicht, Jan Luijkenstraat 22 (tel. 020/671-2954), a plain, clean, and friendly hotel at a superb location across from the Rijksmuseum.