Rightly, this will be redirected from the BA forum, but what I could add before it goes is that the Hotel de l'Europe just re-opened after a €60m renovation, and if you're prepared to spend the cash, you will now be richly rewarded. The hotel itself is a bit of an anomaly in that it is formal and distant in a city that is mostly come as you are.
But if you want to splash out (your other options, really, are the Hotel Amstel and The Grand), at this point in time the de l'Europe is deffo the way to go. Couldn't be more central, right on the Amstel and the Singel.