Richard's place was really cool, gave me a sense of what it's like to be a local in Amsterdam, in a neighborhood off the typical tourist path, but not too far from the center if you take the bus or train which is not difficult to figure out thanks to how well integrated their system is with Google maps. We even walked to the center from his place, which takes some time but it's totally doable. Be aware that it is a lot of stairs to get up to the room and can be difficult with large luggage. The early mornings were great because you could hear all of the birds outside chirping.