Just had a 2 nights stay at the Easy Hotel in Basel, Switzerland.

As some of you might know, Easy Jet founder Stelios, created a series of "easy" products. One of them, his most recent venture, is the Easy Hotel, with two properties, one in London and the second one in Basel.

We all know that Easy Jet is the no frills airline, but how far one can go to create a no frills hotel chain?

First of all, their property in Basel is by the convention centre, so catering to business people should be expected. However, it is not the case and far from it.

The room I had was 12 sq meters. That's ok. However no workdesk or any furniture or chair for that matter. So I had to use my computer in the bed, not the best working position!

Then, no soap or shampoo in the room. I had a dispenser near (but not IN) the shower (no bath), but it was empty. No people at the reception after 11h00pm, so I couldn't even get it filled up, specially that they charge you 18 Fr Swiss for changing the bed sheets and cleaning the room and 15 Fr Swiss to change the towels. But it's a service, not an obligation for the customer, so I opted out. Since I travel quite a lot, I do have soap bar and shampoo in my travelling kit, so I managed.

Then, believe it or not, half a roll of toilet paper AND no glasses at all to drink water. I ended up having to use the cap of my shaving cream container as a drinking glass!!

There is a nice flat screen TV in the room, attached to the wall. Now, if one wants to use it, a nice 11 Fr Swiss is to be charged PER day to "rent" the remote control!!

Wi-Fi Internet acces was supposed to be available for 5 Fr Swiss per hour. However, their router was down, so no Internet access at all.

Rooms with a window don't have A/C. It was quite humid this week in Basel and I could have used some A/C, but since I had a window, I had to deal with the streetcars going on all night, with very little sleep.

Of course, I only paid 56 Euro per night, so I guess I had what I paid for some of you might say. I wasn't expecting a palace, but I was expecting a little more than having to count the toilet paper sheets one by one to go through the end of my stay, and I was'nt expecting to have to use my shaving cream cap to have drinking water...but maybe I'm too fussy!!

One thing is for sure, my next visit in Basel won't be at the Easy Hotel...

The only positive side to that stay it that it does make me appreciate a little more the amenities we, sometimes, takes for granted when on the road!

On your next visit to Basel and for around the same price you can reserve a room at Ibis St Louis - complete with water glass, TV and a window. Because it's just over the border in France you benefit from lower costs. Bonne chance!

I do not know the particular IBIS you recommended but I use the chain often when I am in Europe. IMHO, they are rather austere but functional and clean and reasonably priced in general.

OP, thanks for the report!

We stayed in an Ibis in Sisterona couple of years ago. It was right next to another Accor property (can't remember the name) but they shared the same parking lot. Anyhow, the Ibis looked a little cleaner, so we stayed there.

The room was reasonable sized, with shower and bath (and soap and towels ). There was a restaurant on premises where we ate. Nothing spectacular but it served the purpose.

The breakfast bar was very good, as I recall (we paid) and I remember us lazing over coffee and enjoying the croissants, ham off the bone, breakfast coffee, hard-boiled eggs, and so on.

All in all,I think we paid a total of about 60 euros with b'fast, and it was miles better than this Easy hotel!

Thanks for the information. I will visit Germany next summer. Will try Ibis St Louis. Any other chain hotel recommended?

For budget hotels in Europe it's always worth clicking on CNG Hotels who I believe is also the booking engine behind Ryanair Hotels. Both these sites offer a range of prices

thanks for this very informative post
i have suspected easyhotels was more flash than delivery

good heads up

have stayed at ramada plaza basel and thought it to be great value and non of the headaches .....

At least Ryanair Hotels is just a booking engine - otherwise I'd imagine there was an extra charge for the bed...

Neil

Ehmm, Germany?! Just to clarify. This threat is talking about a hotel in Basle (Switzerland) and one just across the border (Ibis St Louis, in France). The German border is indeed also not that far but just to clarify

Yes, I understand that. I will visit south Germany as well as Switzerland. Basel is on my tour. I checked it. There are IBIS in Germany too. A problem for me is we are traveling as a family of four. Two minors are under 4-yr. Not sure if they have family rooms.

...and your baggage .

If you click through from the Ryanair site they get a commission. So naturally I go straight to the horse's mouth...

When I was in Germany I stayed at an Inter-City Hotel (near FRA airport) which was similar to an Ibis - basic, but very clean and a good value. The Inter-City chain has several other hotels in Germany. This chain is also affiliated with Steigenberger Hotels.

Ryanair seems to use Octopus Travel - is that the same as CNG Hotels? It's worth checking various affiliate sites, because I've checked RyanairHotels and then other Octopus Travel affiliates, and I found the Ryanair price was cheapest. I wouldn't be surprised if Ryanair has some sort of Walmart-style agreement giving Ryanair the lowest price or something. Although I've also seen the Ryanair price being exactly the same as other Octopus Travel sites too.