I do a lot of travelling - sometimes to some obscure places, and I consistently use booking.com for all my accommodation. Never had any problems.

You have availability, price, and hotel details all in one place. But if you've never used the site before, do check the reviews for each hotel. I'll stay almost anywhere, but that will not suit everyone. I normally check the hotels before I leave home and have a short list of ones that I’d prefer. And don't be swayed by the "only one room left" indicator - I do most of my bookings on the day before each arrival, (and occasionally on the actual day), and although the choice might be a little restricted compared to say a week before, it all works very well for me.

I've just looked at Schiphol airport for today (arriving this evening), and I see some nice hotels with discounted rates as well as the cheapo places I would usually choose. The discount might be just as good as what you would get by any other means (e.g. airline employee etc.)

Hope this helps in the absence of any better advice.

Lee