Looking for a reasonable b&b in Basel prior to a rivercruise

I stayed in the Hotel Schweizerhof near the train station when I was in Basel for a couple of days last November before joining my Uniworld cruise. I booked through the basel tourism website... www.basel.com...and was able to take advantage of a weekend special they were offering. I am not sure what your friends budget is, but Basel is an expensive city. With any booked accommodation you receive a free mobility pass which allows you to ride the trams and buses free of charge so staying close to Old Town may not be all that important. I should mention that the area around the train station is quite safe in Basel unlike some cities. Hope this helps!

I've never stayed at a B&B in Basel. I'm not sure I've seen a listing for any. I can offer you a chain hotel I like very close to the station and served by 2 good tram lines. We stay at the Ibis Hotel. Planning in advance decent rates are available except when events are at the convention centre - the Messe. Then the rates throughout Basel head for the stratosphere and keep on going up. The Ibis is 2 stops from the station and, in a different direction, 2 stops or so from the zoo, and in yet a different direction 2 or 3 stops from the Old Town and the wonderful modern art and the moving mobile fountain.

Cheap lodging is particularly difficult to find in Basel. With all the large multinationals based in town, Basel sees a lot of business travelers getting per diem pay, so that keeps the going rate for rooms pretty expensive, even for Switzerland. I stayed at a place called Hotel zum Spalenbrunnen. This was one of the cheaper hotels I could find near the old town, but it still wasn't particularly inexpensive. The room was comfortable enough, although the aromas from the Indian restaurant downstairs were a little more noticable then I would have preferred. And only after I checked in did I learn that the hotel shared its basement with a "gentleman's club". Fortunately, unlike the smell of the Indian food, the noise from the club was not perceptible from my room.