Book Basel hotels online(With our partner Venere)

As you might expect, there are plenty of outrageously expensive hotels in Basel, filled most weekday nights with happily pampered businesspeople. If you’re searching for something a little more characterful, the following have style to recommend them over the rest.

Drei Könige/Trois Rois ***** Venerable Basel institution which began life as a small inn in 1026, and that year hosted Emperor Conrad II, his son Heinrich (later Heinrich III) and Rudolf III of Burgundy – the three kings of the title – who met to thrash out the details of Switzerland’s absorption into the German Empire. These days, having received most of the crowned heads of Europe over the past millennium, it’s still the haunt of presidents and royalty – who of course occupy the more expensive Rhineside rooms. Blumenrain 8 Phone : ++41 061/261 52 52 Fax : ++41 061/ 261 21 53 Web : www.drei-koenige-basel.ch

Krafft am Rhein***** Atmospheric old pile on the Kleinbasel waterfront, with ornate and elegant rooms – shared-bath and en-suite – plus friendly service to go with them. Riverside rooms are pricier. Rheingasse 12 Phone : ++41 061/690 91 30 Fax : ++41 0601/690 91 31 E-mail : hotel-krafft@datacomm.ch

Merian am Rhein**** Affordable quality above the renowned Café Spitz on the riverfront, with spacious rooms furnished in a pleasant, non-traditional style. Rheingasse 2 Phone : ++41 061/681 00 00 Fax : ++41 061/681 11 01

Teufelhof **** The small “Kunsthotel” section has eight rooms, each of them a work of art, redecorated every two years by a different local artist and always uniquely comfortable. The “Galeriehotel” bit, with 25 rooms, is less lavishly done up, and so less expensive, but still reworked annually by a local artist. A breath of fresh air compared with Basel’s standard trade-fair hotels, not least because – unless requested otherwise – rooms are TV-free.  Leonhardsgraben 47 Phone : ++41 061/261 10 10 Fax : ++41 061/261 10 04 Web : www.teufelhof.com