luvorlando

Health issues make reliable air conditioning an imperative for my family yet I'm having a difficult time finding comparisions between various Swiss hotels in Basel. I understand this is a touchy issue and can be taken as a critisism so Ill say I'm not looking to change the way Europeans do things, I'd just like to find reviews in accordance with American tastes so is there an 'Americans in Europe' type forum? From what I gather, the majority of hotels have AC systems but their cooling is more of a lukewarm 75 than what I might need. We are going in a week and someone I know just got back from 100° temps and warned it might be an issue with Asthma. I am looking for a hotel with a system more in line with our requests, maybe a chain caters to these preferences. Any thoughts?

nytraveler

I can't guarantee it but my guess is that if you go for large american chain hotels you are most likely to get strong AC since many of the guests will expect it. But do check on the hotel rating sites to see if there are any notes otherwise.

(I have been to Basel many times to see clients - but only once in July and none in August. I'm not aware that any of the hotels had AC - we didn't need it. But the potential to need it is definitely there.)

greg

I looked at an arbitrary date in August at www.hrs.com. The number of hotels with availability listed in the core of Basel on this night was 44. But as soon as I checked "Air Conditioning" restriction, the number of hotels dropped to 19. So I am not sure about "the majority of hotels have AC systems" assumption. And yes, many of the hotels with A/C are chain/business/group tour hotels, like Ramada, Radisson, Hilton, Best Western, etc. You can get a wider input by looking at reviews at www.booking.com, www.hrs.com, etc.

bilboburgler

I think you will need to drop a range of interesting hotels an email or two. Even search engines will not give you perfect information and if it is imperative then you need to be both certain and in a contractual position with the hotel.

The passion that is engendered is partially because Europeans cannot believe how hot some parts of US can get (after all it looks pretty civilised on the TV ) and then cannot believe how cold some US hotels can get (it took me years to get used to putting a jacket "on" for walking into a US hotel).

Still get it in the contract, I've stayed in swiss hotels that moved me to an annex at a whim, if you need a service you need it contracted in.

WeisserTee

I live in Basel and have lots of overseas colleagues who come here for meetings etc. Here are some of their recs re good air conditioning.

The Three Kings. Also the most expensive hotel in town)
Swissotel by Messeplatz
Radisson Blu by Heuwaage. Can be noisy on week-end nights with partying students)
Hotel Palazzo. A nice little 4-star hotel in the quiet Wettstein neighborhood; it's twinned with the 3-star Hotel Wettstein. The main difference between the two is that the Palazzo has AC and the Wettstein doesn't. I stayed in the Palazzo in August when I interviewed for my job here and the AC was fine.
The Ibis hotel by the Basel SBB train station. A lower cost option in a surprisingly good location -- the "Gundeli" neighborhood has lots of cafes and restaurants.

Mediocre AC
Hotel Basel. Stayed here with my Mom during the heatwave of 2003; the inside temp was only slightly cooler than outside and from what I've heard, things haven't changed.
Hilton. A co-worker/friend from the U.S. always stays here for the points but doesn't really recommend the hotel otherwise.

Hope this helps!

WeisserTee

I would also add: to be on the safe side, always ask for a room that gets afternoon shade. In summer, when daylight stretches into the evening and the hottest part of the day can be late afternoon, a room with afternoon shade will be cooler than one with pm sun, even if the air conditioning isn't terrific.