Since this has kind of turned into a conversation about hotels in my other favorite city, I'll add my EUR 0,02...

I've actually stayed more privately than in hotels, but now when my friends in the Flevo polder are out of town I do still occasionally need a hotel.

I regret to say that it is the opinion of my friends and myself that there is no unqualified good deal in hotels in Amsterdam.

Of the gay pensions I have stayed in, The New York was the best, but it seems they've closed, and I thought them rather expensive, anyway.

As, I take it, is true of most of the pensions, The Orfeo (near the Leidseplein) is cheap, generally clean, with a friendly staff, but the rooms are small and austerely appointed.

The Golden Bear (in the Kerkstraat) is perhaps a notch above the Orfeo, and also caters specifically to bears, but I have also heard of people having bad experiences there (indifferent staff, construction noise).

I once stayed at the Hotel Quentin (also near the Leidseplein on the Lijnbaansgracht, around the corner from the Melkweg "Milky Way" a disco I have never been to, but which apparently every straight traveler to Amsterdam is required to attend). The Quentin is not really gay, but is gay friendly, and friends seem to have done O.K. there.

On my last visit, in November, I thought I'd try a hotel in the Warmoestraat. Yes, so I could be near Club Jacques, The Eagle, The Argos, and The Web. At the suggestion of a friend, I stayed at the art hotel Winston (http://www.winston.nl) which is charming in an off-beat artsy kind of way, but also suffers from that Dutch austerity, has rooms that while decorated by local artists are sometimes tiny (I had to get into the shower sideways), and is surrounded by the noisiest alleys in the red light district.

I have also stayed at the Hilton, mostly because of its John and Yoko history. It is a nice hotel, but most of the time overpriced, and in the middle of nowhere -- an hours walk from the center.

The reports I have heard of the other high-end hotels have mostly had criticisms.

I have wondered, though, about the Polynesian -themed Barangay Guest House (near Centraal Station http://www.barangay.nl/who.html). I have never stayed there, but there website looks cool.

If there are great deals to be had in gay hotels in Amsterdam, people seem to be keeping them to themselves.