You do not have to speak English to a hotel in Amsterdam come about everyone speaks English in Amsterdam, and is proud of the fact. Many also speak German and French. If you speak English, speak English (unless you also speaks English): You are more likely to offend than someone a favor by trying to make your French or German.
A common misconception is that Dutch is very close to German. In reality they are not mutually intelligible: Dutch people have to learn German at school, and in general they speak better English than German. German and Dutch are similar in the same sort of way that French and Italian are similar. The receptionist of my hôtel Amsterdam for example, spoke no German, but English. They learn just from small on TV.
The currency used in the Netherlands is the euro, expressed in EUR or €. Staying in a hotel in Amsterdam is therefore particularly easy. There are 16 countries using the Euro zone: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain. You can use the euro in these countries. (To remember the list of countries that you used to be able to use the Mnemonic phrase "difficult pigs, but after Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta and Slovakia joined, there are the additional letters" CMSS ").
The Dutch guilder is not longer usable. I had my Hotel Amsterdam a number of them, still earlier, the receptionist had a good laugh! You need to exchange old coins and banknotes in a bank do. Many luxury hotels in Amsterdam have their own exchange, so you do not need to go out to make money in order to get.
There are many places to make money in the city, often not so far from crazy Hotel Amsterdam. Postkantoren usually the best rates. The GWK to the Central Station is also good. Compare prices carefully at the exchange offices in the city. Hotels are usually an expensive way to make money. Banks can be slow. There is an American Express on the Damrak, and a Thomas Cook on the Dam.
You should not change money if you an ATM card (a card for getting money from a machine in the wall), will most likely work in the Netherlands (even across Europe), so you do not need to travel checks . Please check with your bank before departure whether what more info in the hotels Amsterdam where you reside. Such cards, especially if they have a Maestro logo on them, can often also be used for direct debit payments in shops (shops that display the blue "PIN" sign, that almost all shops).
