Les Trois Rois Hotel (Three Kings Hotel), Basel

The Three Kings Hotel is one of Switzerland’s most historic hotels, with an inn documented on the site as early as the 17th century and a tradition of hospitality stretching back even further. During the Middle Ages, the area was an important centre of trade thanks to its location beside the Rhine and close to facilities associated with the transportation and storage of valuable commodities such as salt.

The present luxurious hotel was built in 1844. Johann Jakob Senn, a master tailor and entrepreneur, anticipated that the arrival of railways and river steamers would encourage travel and invested in creating an elegant hotel for the growing number of visitors to Basel.

The hotel’s name refers to the Biblical Three Kings who brought gifts to the infant Jesus. The Three Kings became a popular symbol of hospitality, particularly for inns serving merchants and travellers.

In 2004, Swiss entrepreneur Thomas Straumann acquired the hotel and neighbouring premises. An extensive two-year restoration followed, intended to revive the elegance of the 1844 building while adapting it to modern luxury standards.

Over the centuries, the hotel has been associated with an extraordinary array of prominent guests. Napoleon Bonaparte visited in 1797 and met Swiss representatives here during a period of rapidly changing relations between France and Switzerland. Later visitors have reportedly included Queen Elizabeth II, the Dalai Lama, King Farouk of Egypt and former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.

The hotel has also welcomed celebrated artists, musicians, philosophers and writers, with names such as Charles Dickens, Jean-Paul Sartre, Pablo Picasso and Duke Ellington associated with its guest list.