I read Beantown's info regarding American Express, went to this website
http://travel.americanexpress.com/tr...nal/resources/

and booked 2 hotels (beginning & end of my trip) in AMS. More vacancies & better prices than any other site. Got confirmation in seconds by e-mail. Hotel information are thin, looked them parallel up at http://www.visitamsterdam.nl/

ranles:
BTW, when you live in a sleepy town like I, you better don't call a (local) travel agency. For me, the www is a great help.