Hello everyone, I am a swiss citizen who currently lives in Canada with my Canadian/Greek girlfriend. I am trying to convince her to move to Switzerland (Basel) with me and since we will be visiting my family this summer I thought we could go and stay in a nice hotel in the city and see what it would be like to be there.
(Hard to picture what life in Switzerland would be like for her if we spend all the whole time at my mums house in a small town in Aargau)

So does anyone have any suggestions for a hotel in Basel? I want it to be really central, preferably in near the river, in the old part of town. It does not have to be super fancy, however, I do want it to be really nice. I am trying to impress my girlfriend after all

Thanks for the help
Lukas

Secret Deals in Basel

Ask for your free mobility-ticket from any hotel in Basel for public transportation.

Thank you! Anyone else have a suggestion?
Much apprechiated

Hi,

Any reccomendations for where to stay for a family visit (weekend scoping out before a move in the summer. A serviced apartment or family room in a hotel would be good as we have 3 kids......

Hi, it depends how much money you want to spend...
I think Adagio Apartment Hotel is a good option if you want to stay a bit longer. However it is not in the old town/ but close to it and the rhein as well.

HOw about a family room at the IH (YHA) hostel in St Albans? It's been renovated recently and is very good value for money - cheerful atmosphere, and generally families are on a floor separate from others. Clean, secure and includes a vey good self-serve breakfast.

I can't recommend any (I've only stayed at Hotel Victoria, which was nice, but directly across the street from the SBB. This meant lots of street noise and smoke from the waiting taxis drivers coming into our windows)

However, if you do find a place that looks interesting, I'd be more than happy to go and check it out for you. I haven't found a job yet, so my days are pretty flexible

Having visited a number of times for work before moving here I stayed in a couple of hotels. If you really want to impress (this is for the OP) go to the Trois Rois - if you catch it right, the price could be similar to other hotels in town, and it's really beautiful. For corporate, reasonably smart hotels, the Hilton is central, and comfortable, as is the Ramada and Swissotel. The Casino near the airport is nice too, though out of town (still only 15 mins on the bus). If you're looking for a cheap option (and by cheap, we're still talking approx CHF160/night for a single room) the Palazzo and Wettstein (sister hotels, next to each other) are comfortable though fairly basic family run hotels, nothing majorly special, but clean, friendly and central, though they don't have a restaurant for dinner, only breakfast. And they don't have air conditioning, as is the norm in Switzerland. Also, none of the hotels I've stayed in have tea and coffee facilities in the room - even the scabbiest B&B or motel in the UK has this, so I found this difficult to get used to.

Really important to remember is that Basel is a centre for trade fairs, so if your visit coincides with one of these, you'll need to book REALLY early to get a room anywhere near town, delegates sometimes have to stay in Zurich or Mulhouse because they can't get a room. Here's a list with dates: http://www.tradefairdates.com/Basel-...irs-Basel.html

[ HOw about the Best Western in Rheingasse - ask for a room that overlooks the river for a great view.

I also like the atmosphere in the Radisson Blu - it has a nice , heated swimming pool and a sauna, and the ground floor restaraunt has a romatic flickering fire effect.

Thanks everyone, I have looked on lots of different sites and booked a room at the Hotel D, on Blumenrain. I think the day after is the start of the Kunstmesse, so all the Hotels are pretty booked already.
Can anyone tell me how to "thank" someone or "groan" at someone I cant seem to figure it out

Groan? You are thinking of groaning someone already??

I *think* you need to have a certain number of posts before those options become available to you.

However, I have a few posts and still can only see those buttons in certain forums, so it might be forum-dependent.

Glad you found a place! Good luck with the "convincing". My husband's from the Toronto area, if you need someone with an accent you can understand

You never know when you might need to groan at someone
Well, I was born and raised in CH, so I'll be fine language wise, and I have lived in English speaking countries for 6 years now, so I can understand them all (even including Scottish and Texan)
Does your husband miss Toronto? I can't wait to get out of here, sooooo boring. And the weather is terrible. Too cold in the winter, gross and humid in the summer.

I initially wanted to refrain from posting on this thread. Toronto boring?! I've been trying to get back to Toronto for the past 4 years now! It's a funny world, that's all I can say.

A gentleman doesn't groan. He gives thanks when due and uses sarcastic yet witty cutdowns when somebody annoys him. (Oscar Wilde is your model here...)

Well my friend, Olten is not exactly the most exciting place, I'll give you that.

No, certainly it isn't, but you don't quite fathom what you're about to trade in for. See, there is a difference between coming back to visit and coming back to live here.

True, but it really depends on what you're leaving behind.

You will need ear plugs. I stayed there for a night last summer when in Basel for work, and the road outside is very, very noisy - screeching tram wheels being the main culprit.

I also found it a bit weird that between the bedroom and the bathroom there was a big glass panel, which meant that anyone kneeling on the bed could have seen whatever was going on in the shower or on the toilet. Hopefully they only use this room for singles (although it had a double bed), or maybe there was some way of shutting off the "view" which I didn't see!

Trust me, Canada is the 3rd place I have lived in since leaving Switzerland. Before that i was in Greece and in the UK. In both countries I had a big group of friends within a matter of months. Here, not so much.
It is such an impersonal and depressed place. The rest of Canada agrees with that too...
I cant wait to be back in Switzerland where people greet you in the street and engage in more than just polite small talk.
I'm gonna stop now, dont want to get groaned at by a Canadian, oh wait, they only do that sort of stuff behind your back, cause doing it to my face wouldn't be polite.