Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois

The "Three Kings" has been welcoming guests since 1681, making it one of the oldest grand hotels in Europe. Napoleon Bonaparte stayed here in 1797. So did Queen Victoria, and later Pablo Picasso, Thomas Mann, and the Rolling Stones — though presumably not all at the same time. The hotel sits directly on the Rhine, and the best rooms offer a front-row seat to the river, the Münster cathedral, and the ferries that have been crossing the water since the Middle Ages. 101 rooms, the Michelin-starred Cheval Blanc restaurant by Peter Knogl, and a location at the heart of Basel's old town that puts Art Basel on your doorstep each June.