Originally Posted by
Pausanias
My own take on Amsterdam is this - the city is attractive, obviously, with some important architecture and museums. However, it's not a place to stay overnight, especially if you have a car which is always my preferred mode of transport in Western Europe. I intend next trip to base myself in Voorburg, at the hotel Savelberg which is Relais & Chateaux with a *Michelin restaurant and proper parking. From there you can easily visit Delft, one of Europe's great examples of town planning, and take the train to Amsterdam.
I like your plan as a tourist, but we all have our different reasons for visiting Amsterdam. Myself I visit VERY often on business. I've found over the years, and as someone else mentioned above, there are just not enough hotel rooms here. Many times I've needed to make a last minute reservation only to find everything decent sold out. Amsterdam is a very popular conference and congress city and there's always something big going on. So I gave up on the hotels and now have a nice apartment. For about the same cost as 3 or 4 luxury hotel nights per month I have a huge 2 bedroom, two floor apartment on the water with parking. It's so large that I split the rent with a friend.
I still sometimes stay at the airport Sheraton which is super convenient for early morning flights. Or sometimes at certain other hotels for business reasons, but mostly I use the apartment which is far more luxurious than any hotel, sans the service.