Unfortunately I couldn't choose hotels, because I wouldn't have chosen a hotel from the NH chain again, but as this was a business trip I took what was booked.
Upsides: it is located on Rembrandtplein (Rembrandt Square) which is sort of the very center.
Downsides: to be located at the very center is a downside, if the hundreds of bars surrounding you play loud music until deep in the night. So when picking the NH Caransa count on HipHop beats accompanying your lullaby.
The hotel itself and the corridors are partly worn down, everything is in dark brown and looks like it is hardly maintained. The room itself was quite nice although in dark brown tones too. Spacious bath/shower, the usual 14 lights with 28 switches.
BUT the real killer was the WORST TV picture since the invention of cable TV. The picture on all of the 30 programs was fuzzy and it looked like permanent snowing!
Well as I said, I was there on a business trip, so I hadn't much time for watching TV anyway, but half an hour before going to bed is nice. But not with this lousy picture.
Alltogether: music and bass beats from the bar below, worn down outfit and lousy TV picture. And a horrendous rate for one night without breakfast!!

I stayed there for 2 nights on a leisure trip to Amsterdam.
Receptionist was professional, efficient, but not excessively friendly. Don't expect service with a smile. Free WiFi in the lobby, but a charge applies in the rooms.
One single lift for all of the hotel. Room was spacious, big bed, comfortable mattress, but pillow felt as if it was made of concrete. Asked to receive a feather pillow, but service provided merely another sythetic pillow. At least they tried to find something.
Had a room facing the side street next to Rembrandtplein - monstrously loud at night, don't expect to be able to sleep before 5am on a Friday-Saturday night (I had earplugs, did not help much).
Parking was available close by, easy to find.
Did not have breakfast in the hotel.
I would recommend this plans for travellers who look for a certain standard (which it does have), who have no trouble faling asleep, who do not need much service (though I would expect they are able to deliver it) and particularly to those who go to Amsterdam to party - because the location is perfect to party.

My boyfriend and I were meant to be staying at NH Schiller, just across the square. But, bizarrely, our booking wasn't on their system, and it took them a good hour to figure out what had happened. We'd booked through Hotels.com, which seemed to really confuse them! We had to send the woman at reception copies of the emails we received as confirmation of the booking, and even on receipt of these they still didn't understand.

Anyway, they had no rooms for us, so we were taken to NH Caransa, their 'sister' hotel. It wasn't much of a looker from the outside, and was situated over the top of a bar/cafe. I was a bit disheartened, but I had no reason to be! We were given a choice of a regular or quiet room, and after reading the reviews about noise in the square, decided to go for the quiet room. And that is was! We stayed in room 208, which was small, but perfectly formed - very clean, with a huge, comfortable bed, huge desk, TV, guide books etc. No noise could be heard at all on Friday or Saturday night, and even the air con was fantastically quiet. I was pleased they were able to accommodate us, with no extra charge.

Breakfast on both days was delicious! They had pretty much anything you could think of - the sausages and mini-pancakes were great! Lovely dining room, with a balcony overlooking the square. Reception staff were friendly and welcoming, and we were given fresh towels and new toiletries on each day, which I thought was very generous.

Overall I can't fault this hotel, and I was actually glad of the mix up come the end of our stay! An ideal location for getting around the city, too - there was no need to use public transport at all, except on the last day when we had plenty of luggage and were exhausted! Would definitely recommend it!

good hotel with central location - nice, big and clean rooms, good breakfast;
when good weather sometimes noisy at night because of the pubs and terraces at the Rembrandt plein, but hotel provides ear guards in the room