Congress Apartments by Hotel du Commerce

When we came back to collect our luggage, the owner again said we hadn’t paid the city tax, even though we’d paid that morning. I showed her the Booking.com confirmation and payment record. Earlier, she’d said we had booked for one person and demanded tax for one, so we paid that to avoid an argument. Now she insisted we owed tax for the second person. We had no problem paying the second person’s tax, and did so, but when I tried to explain the confusion calmly, she shouted, “You are not welcome anymore and get out and get out!” It felt deeply disrespectful and unprofessional. This all happened after checkout that morning. The owner had first claimed our reservation was for one guest, but my Booking.com confirmation clearly showed two. I felt the way she treated us as Asian visitors was unfriendly and dismissive. She seemed friendly with other, non-Asian guests. Because of the poor communication, conflicting tax demands, and aggressive treatment, I can’t recommend this hotel to other Asian travelers.

Breakfast was outstanding, and the staff were friendly and helpful. The rooms were very basic, though clean, with an adequate bathroom and everything else working well. Mine was small and had poor sound insulation, and there’s no air conditioning if it’s warm outside. I was lucky to find any room in Basel, as this was one of very few hotels with availability. I’m sure I paid double the usual rate, but all the hotels seemed to be charging that.

Breakfast was limited, with no hot food, and the curtains didn’t block all the light, so I didn’t sleep well. My room was clean and modern, but being on the ground floor at the back meant walking through the rain to reach breakfast. It was also noisy, with trams passing out front from 5 am. The hotel felt expensive for what it offered, probably because it’s near the Messe.

Breakfast had lots of choice, including vegan options, and I loved the huge muesli bar 🫶🏽. The room was spotless and the staff were really friendly. But I’m a light sleeper, and could easily hear both the street and people in the neighboring rooms. I also found it irritating that the room couldn’t be darkened.