Hi yujung
First, you need to know the difference between a zone ticket and a point-to-point ticket.
Zone tickets:
The cantonal or regional fare networks in Swiss have developed their own products. The tickets for the use of local public transport within the borders of a specific fare network will be sold according to zones.
Point-to-point ticket:
The general Swiss passenger fare applies to journeys that cross the borders of different regional transport fare networks.
During a trip from Zurich HB to Basel SBB, the train will cross the fare network ZVV (Zürich) to go in to the fare network TNW from Basel.
So now, this being said:
For a person without a half-fare travelcard on the second class, a point-to-point ticket Zürich HB - Basel SBB one way, costs CHF 34.00. First class, CHF 60.00.
In addition to the point-to-point ticket you can buy a City Ticket for zone 110 of the city of Zurich if you want to use public transport in downtown area. You can check out the limits of the Zone 110 from ZVV here: click to download the map
By booking a hotel in Basel, you have received a City-Card and are now authorised to use public transport within the boundaries of zones 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 of the TNW fare network in Basel.
But you still need a point-to-point ticket Zürich HB - Basel SBB.
I wish you a nice day. EllenvS.