Unless there is more than one Swissotel in Amsterdam, it is not located in the Red Light District. It is actually located on a very busy street in the central part of the city. The location is very convenient for using local trams and is within easy walking distance of the central train station. There is very little auto traffic (the city had planned to ban it completely on that street, but I don't know if that has happened yet), but lots of people walking.

The Red Light District is to the east of where you will be staying. I would avoid it in the evening as the area often is filled (yes, so many people that it is sometimes difficult to walk) with semi-drunken tourists staring at the prostitutes. If you want to see it yourself, I would go in the early afternoon.

On the other side of the Red Light District is the Oriental area - Chinese and some other Asian restaurants and food shops. You can get there without walking through the Red Light District by walking on the street where your hotel is toward the Centraal Station. You then need to turn right to get to a street called Zeedijk. At the beginning, Zeedijk is mostly tourist-oriented restaurants, however, as you continue walking it will become Asian.

If you feel adventurous, at the very beginning of Zeedijk, near the Centraal Station, is one of my favourite places in the city: Ooievaar (http://www.proeflokaaldeooievaar.nl/). This is a very old looking jenever pub. Jenever is a strong drink made in the low countries since the middle ages. If you go in, ask for old jenever. They may then ask you whether you want one year, three years, five years, etc. The prices go up the older it is. If you don't mind paying €5 for a very small glass of strong drink (2cl), see what that will get you (if you can pay more, that's all right too). There is another lovely jenever pub only a few meters from Ooievaar called de Olofspoort (http://www.olofspoort.com/).