The blah Canal Crowne Hotel was taken over by Carlton Hotel Collection, a Netherlands–UK boutique chain, and reopened in May 2004 as a far nicer prospect. Instead of relying on high design as so many other new places in the Dutch capital do, it's taking a shot at being the coziest, comfiest hotel in town. In fact, the design is fine too, taking its cue from the early-20th-century building itself—a former bank on the Vijzelstraat "Golden Bend" of the Herengracht Canal—and riffing on H.P. Berlage's Amsterdam School and Frank Lloyd Wright. It all ends up looking homey in a vaguely Art Deco way, especially in the lounge, called "The Living," with its leather chairs and brass lamps, and in "The Kitchen," with its checkerboard tiled floor, pine dresser, and giant old-fashioned range. Breakfast (included) is cooked to order in "The Kitchen," and guests are encouraged to hang out there and in "The Living," where all drinks and snacks are free. Contents of your minibar and unlimited Internet and movie channels are gratis as well. Right there, they're onto a good thing, and the website has incredibly low last-minute deals. Who needs a spa anyway?

In the heart of the Pijp neighborhood, the cake shop De Taart van m'n Tante (My Auntie's Cake) is much loved for its style, its taste, and, let's be frank, its kitsch. The owners' B&B takes it to the next level—actually up two stories. The three rooms were stripped down to the floorboards and painted blue (as in Delft), green (dog motif), or orange (for the saffron hues of Asia). Rooms have orthopedic beds, wireless Internet access, and thick windows to keep out the noise of the busy neighborhood below. Guests get a voucher for coffee and cake downstairs (try the poppy seed cake or Dutch apple pie). And there's a common kitchen in case you want your breakfast at 6…p.m.

Riding the crest of the timely wave of high-end design hotels at low-end prices, the CitizenM brand's first property, located within the Schiphol International Airport complex, stands out for its super-efficient, cutting-edge design, conceived by Dutch star architects Concrete, with prefab rooms stacked on top of the ground floor. Guests check themselves in via high-tech monitors in the lobby (rooms are then preset according to guest specifications) before making their way through a buzzing 24-hour café with bright-red counters and communal tables. On either side of the café are several open public rooms outfitted with funky multi-colored Vitra chairs, bookshelves, flatscreen TVs, and desktop Mac computers available to guests. All 230 identical rooms are a compact 150 square feet, but they feel bigger thanks to a clever layout. Two Jetsons-like cylinders each enclose a toilet and a high-pressure rain shower, while the rear half of the room is taken up entirely by a floor-to-ceiling window and an enormous custom-made bed with Frette linens. A "mood pad" allows control of everything from the TV and the window blinds to the colored lighting and wake-up alarm music. If only all airport hotels were this much fun.

Conceived by Roc, Holland's most prestigious hotel school, this erstwhile schoolhouse is a breath of fresh air. The entire ground floor is public space: To the left of the entrance is the chic reception desk, made of leather and mother-of-pearl, and to the right high-ceilinged hallways lead to a colorful bar with patterned-velvet chairs and couches and, beyond, an airy white-brick–and–glass dining room that was once the gymnasium. The 40 rooms, with their flat-screen TVs, glass showers, and black-lacquer doors and wardrobes, are sleek but cozy; the German manufacturer of their sensually soft sheets also makes shirts for Gucci and Prada. The service throughout is thoughtful and sincere.

Don't weep, Anouska Hempel fans, Blakes is alive and well. It just has a new name (since October 2004). The owners are new too, but the management is the same, as are Hempel's trademark touches, familiar from Blakes London and Paris's Louis Vuitton flagship store in St-Germain-des-Prés. Both London-based Lady Weinberg's flamboyant style and her minimal phase are on display here: There are Oriental–rock 'n' roll rooms in cardinal-red and cream; more natural rooms under the eaves with exposed beams, in whites and wicker; Japanese rooms in black, navy, and beige; and spice-trader East India rooms in cinnamon, mahogany, and black lacquer. In a word: theatrical. Improvements include video-on-demand on flat-screen TVs and high-speed Internet in the rooms. Under the direction of Executive Chef Dennis Kuipers, the restaurant, which was renamed Vinkeles in July 2008, remains exclusive and exciting—serving North African–inflected French cuisine such as roast Anjou pigeon with five spices. Kuipers also oversees the more casual Mediterranean-style Terrace restaurant. Bikes (cheap) and captained boats (not cheap) are rentable, both of which are handy around Leidseplein.

The Amrath's June 2007 debut was one of the most dramatic Amsterdam hotel premieres in recent memory, and the culmination of a massive restoration job. In renovating the Scheepvaarthuis—a shipping company office shaped like an ocean liner overlooking the harbor, just east of the Central Station—the hotel's designers zealously respected the building's Amsterdam School architecture (the austere Dutch version of Art Nouveau). The main entrance area feels a bit squeezed (it represents the bow of a ship), but look up and the entire world lies before you: The spectacular stained-glass ceiling crowning the entranceway depicts the globe. There's more breathing room past the lobby, where the space opens to the hotel's twin public attractions: the seafood restaurant Seven Seas (still finding its legs) and a combination bar and lounge. The 165 guest rooms echo the drama of the lobby in their soaring ceilings; masculine, dark wood furniture; honey-toned wallpaper, adding to the room's burnished patina; and some 21st-century touches (free Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs). Nab a room facing the River IJ: The Dutch light pouring through the high windows turns everything golden. If all the nautical allusions put you in the mood for a dip, there are a swimming pool, Turkish bath, and whirlpool hot tub in the basement Wellness Center.

In Oosterpark, not too far from the city center, the St. Elizabeth building (circa 1890) was a Catholic orphanage turned youth hostel until 1999, when it was upgraded into this happy, still-youth-centric hotel. As is the norm these days, top designers were employed in the conversion—though you wouldn't immediately know it from the uniformly unadorned spaces with wooden floors, white walls, and white flat-pack furniture. Standard rooms look like the orphans never moved out and are to be avoided. Get an Extra Large if possible—they're huge and the furnishings are way more posh—or for top bang for the buck, one of the six suites that were added in 2004. Most of the character here comes from original construction: tall ceilings and 15-foot windows, and rooms with sloping ceilings tucked under the eaves, for example. One weird hostel hangover: Normally standard amenities—such as hairdryers and irons—must be requested and require a deposit. The cool and pretty upscale Euro-fusion restaurant, called ToDine (geddit?), the cartoonish café-bar ToDrink, and the ToNight club (a mini-Limelight in the old chapel) are popular and therefore noisy, so if you're not joining in with the fun, get a room in the back.

This iconic hotel is situated on not one, but two canals. Cobbled together from 25 historic canal houses gathered around a gracious courtyard, it achieves Amsterdam-coziness in spite of its 230-room girth. Each room is different, all have either a garden or canal view, and some suites are duplexes. The Pulitzer's scale makes it the closest thing this city has to a resort—there's an art gallery, a gym, and a private boat for canal cruises. The restaurant, Pulitzers, part of which was once a pharmacy, is now one of the city's top tables for French-inspired cooking. After dinner, retire to Pulitzers Bar or the cigar lounge. In summer, you can take high tea in the courtyard.

In a town with relatively few grande dame hotels, the Amstel qualifies as Amsterdam's most dogged; it's been itching for that honor ever since it opened on the Amstel River in 1867. You feel its regal ambitions roiling the minute the supremely efficient staff whisks away your luggage and you enter the lobby, which is modeled on a French Renaissance palace and groans with marble. The restaurant, La Rive, flaunts its Michelin star; guests take high tea in the Riverside lounge; and in a rare concession to modernity, there's a health club and indoor pool. Most of the 79 patrician guest rooms are wrapped up in enough chintz and toile wallpaper to cover Versailles, and tellingly, the toile depicts Marie Antoinette look-alikes flitting through Watteau-worthy bowers. Each room also comes fully loaded with Dutch still lifes, Delft ceramics, and flat-screen TVs tucked discreetly behind built-in cabinetry; nothing less than marble would do for the bathrooms. All this pomp makes jet-lagged business travelers, and even the democratic Dutch, feel a bit aristocratic. Loiter long enough, and you may see an actual grande dame in the flesh (past guests include Marlene Dietrich and Madonna) or one of the local royals. Queen Beatrix celebrated her 60th birthday here, and there is a royal suite plumped and waiting for any passing family members.

In the trendy Eastern Docklands district, the Lloyd's history begins in 1921, when the building was constructed as a dorm hotel for migrants. The Germans commandeered it as a prison during WWII, then in the '60s, it became a juvey hall. Fortunately, before it opened as a hotel in early 2004, the owners let about a score of Holland's top design talents loose on the 116 rooms, which are categorized with one to five stars. Teeny, plain one-star rooms might have wainscoting and raised cot beds; robes are provided for forays to the shared bathrooms. Three-star "remarkable" rooms mix 1920s furniture and pieces from big-time Dutch designers like Hella Jongerius. Four-star "exceptional" and five-star "amazing" rooms have masses of space, fabulous views, and perhaps a polystyrene bathroom, a concert piano, or a 12-foot bed. A caveat: Some rooms are so inscrutable that visitors seeking old-style luxury may prefer to gawk here but sleep elsewhere. Public areas—a restaurant, art book–filled library, and a soundproof room for your next jam session—are a hangout for hip locals and a clearinghouse for arts institutions, hosting readings, cooking classes, screenings, and the like.

Money is no object, you're so over minimalism, and you want an intimate place to stay. Beyond the grand oak staircase in this 18th-century canal house are eight themed rooms (Tolkien, Stravinsky, and Picasso, for instance). More like pieds-à-terre than hotel rooms, each has a sitting area and cushy touches such as custom-woven Welsh blankets. Even the smallest is a generous 430 square feet. Staff members serve breakfast in bed, set out wine and cheese by the fireplace, and act as concierge for your busy Amsterdam evenings. Museumplein and the nightlife of Leidseplein and Rembrandtplein are within a few minutes' walk from the front door.