Doesn't need to be 5star but mustn't be seedy or grimy either! Just a nice clean basic hotel would be good.
We don't want to worry too much with public transport / cabs (especiallya t night) and would like it to be easilly accessible to museums and canal cafes and some good restaurants / bars.
For his birthday, last November, I took my partner to the Intercontinental Amstel Hotel, it's on the Amstel River, very oldy worldy, beautiful architecture and wonderful food and service. It's also close to the centre, where all the restaurants and shops are.
The Amsterdam Hilton. It's a nice hotel, famous for John Lennon and Yoko Ono's famous "lie in". It's away from the seedy pasrts, with a nice outlook, and near to the canal, shops and museums.
We always use the France Hotel, 3 minutes walk from Centraal Station on the fringe of the (sadly now somewhat over-sanitised) red-light district, and therefore in easy reach on foot of loads of good restaurants & bars. Oh, and it's on a canalside, too.