Guest User
May 26, 2024
This hotel is an exceptional base for an atmospheric city stay in Basel. I stayed for five nights in May and loved it. For a grand Swiss hotel, there is a wonderful warm sense of intimacy. The bar, restaurants and lounge areas are gorgeous spaces- truly impressive without feeling intimidating or cold. All are filled with beautiful fresh flowers. My room- a queen river view- was very comfortable and beautifully maintained. The rooms are quite “imperial” in style- with a lot of saturated gold, blue and red. Bedding was of excellent quality. I loved my terrace space, which had beautiful sunlight in the morning. The one problem with the large terraces on the first floor to be aware of, is that neighbours can potentially see easily into neighbouring rooms if they choose to dine at their outside tables. Service standard was superb throughout. The hotel rapidly responded to my phone call from Australia to adjust my booking extremely close to my stay (thankyou Marina), the concierge and reception staff were also very helpful and efficient. On my first night, the service from the bartender also made such a strong impression taking me through the house cocktails. Even requests to housekeeping for lounge cushions on my terrace were addressed almost instantaneously. The food offerings are excellent. The breakfast quality was significantly superior to other larger Swiss grand hotels I’ve visited (Suvretta House, Bellevue Palace Bern, Beau Rivage Palace Lausanne) with excellent service, food range and quality. A house champagne is served. Dinner at Cheval Blanc with a couple of colleagues was impeccable- one of the best quality meals I’ve ever enjoyed. For the quality, prices were not at all unreasonable. Light meals and cocktails at the bar were largely excellent. The one exception was that the club sandwich was not good enough, nor appropriately priced for quality (and I am used to Swiss pricing, and don’t say that lightly). The location is perfect- very central for wandering to the convention centre in Klein Basel, and through to the market and cathedral squares and the Kunstmuseum (one of the best fine art museums in any city). The tram network is excellent. In spite of major renovations, the main building of the hotel is not affected. I ate lunch twice on the terrace adjacent to the building undergoing works and there was no noise. The current gym arrangements are not at all ideal (the main lift opens directy onto facilities), but I understand temporary through the renovations. I would return here without a moment of hesitation.