Caledonian Sleeper

I have a conflicted view on this as we had a negative experience, and the cause was not their fault, but their response could have been better. We took the Inverness to London train june 5, and before boarding, I heard the people in front of us ask for rooms together. The agent said they could have M5 and M6. I thought M5 was our room, but being my first time, there might be more than 1 M5. When we got to the front, it turns out there was only 1 m5, and it took about 15 min to straighten out, putting us last to board. Our cabin was nice and the train was clean but the pull out table in our room was missing. We went to sleep, and everything was good until 4 am. when I woke up to find us in Edinburgh. We received a text that the power lines were down and we could not proceed, and then around 5:15, we got a message that our tickets would be accepted at energy and the next train was leaving in 20 min. There was no one to explain where to go or how to select a seat. Being new to this whole process, this was quite stressful. They did end up refunding the whole fare, but more help would have been appreciated.

Mixed. Some nice some not so much. Convenient for going to Scotland from London and saving some time. Also the lounge area before boarding was nice-ish but too small and rather disorganized. The train was perfunctory and got me to Scotland but didn’t allow me the two together discount, was a cramped room and has a poorly organized reservation system for meals. We were able to get our meals but not much flexibility in when or what. I may use the sleeper again but I was disappointed in a number of things. I think my favorite thing was waking up in Scotland.

I'm mixed about this experience, I loved it but also a little disappointed. I had looked forward to my sleeper train trip and at the lounge in London I was so pleased. Nice snacks and free soft drinks and the ability to buy a glass of wine, which I did, all started great. We boarded the train ahead, part of the deal, and found our cabin, now this is where the disappointment started! The cabins are tiny, too small to put any luggage so it all has to go under the bed, if you can't then you have to block the floor of the cabin. It's only about 2foot by 6 foot and the door opens in one end and a sink the other so it's really really tight. The toilet/shower room is tiny and I could hardly turn, you have to shut the door to do so (I'm 5ft7inch size 12/14 dress uk) Anyway if you are under 6 foot you will fit on the beds, over that forget it. If you are large framed then you are not going to be comfortable. If you can't climb a vertical ladder, or more importantly get down one, then don't book bunks, we are pretty agile but my partner struggled and I thought it pretty dangerous. We ate in the train and it was wonderful and the staff are great, I really recommend getting into the dinner cart ASAP as you might not get a seat and you truly can't sit in your cabin. The beds are hard and functional but very clean and I slept okay, my partner not so well. Breakfast was great too. On the way back we went into the Inverness lounge to be told no snacks but hot drinks and cold soft drinks, I was hungry so had to go and buy something. It was the exact same set up on the way back and I was truly done with it by the time we arrived in London, although we did go back into the lounge and this was great again. I'm not sure I would ever spend this much money again, the must expensive train/B&B I have ever booked and not as special as I hoped it would be but at least I'm lucky enough to be in a position to try it, if only once.

I recently booked a round-trip on the Caledonian Sleeper in August and had a generally positive experience. One of the highlights was the lounge, which was very comfortable and provided complimentary snacks and hot or cold drinks. There was also hot food available for a fee, which was a nice option. The accessible room was spacious, and the double bed was very comfortable, making for a restful night’s sleep. I particularly appreciated that guests in the accessible room had access to the lounge – a thoughtful touch that really added to the overall experience. However, I did find the accessible toilet to be a bit too small. Once inside with a wheelchair, there wasn’t enough room to manoeuvre, making transfers quite difficult. Another small inconvenience was that I missed breakfast on the outbound journey, because there was no place at the door of the accessible room to hang the breakfast request form.-However, I spoke to the staff on my return journey to requested my breakfast. Overall, the Caledonian Sleeper provided a pleasant and comfortable journey with just a couple of areas for improvement.

Booked a twin bunk room which allows access to the lounge on platform one. Nice facilities with complimentary snacks and drinks. It serves the same menu as the train. Meal was very nice and the staff were very friendly and helpful. The cabins on the train are quite small, but the bunks were comfortable and your only using the cabin to sleep. Waking up to the views of Scotland is rather special and the scenery whilst enjoying a very nice breakfast is something to cherish. All in all, a very pleasant experience!

On the return journey on the Jacobite, after a museum visit and a wonderful dinner in Fort William, the train departs at the appropriate time. The train is functional, hassle-free and allows for some alone time. I had a pleasant travelling experience, arriving in London in the morning with the right service when I needed it.

In theory, it seems like a good idea- fun overnight train ride while saving us precious daylight hours in getting to Edinburgh, but the experience just didn’t work for us. One person in our party got motion sick (didn’t realize this would happen), and one of our rooms was next to the toilet which we could hear flushing all night. What worked well: 1. Booking tickets and boarding were simple. 2. Allowed us to arrive early in Edinburgh without wasting half the day on the train. Challenges which would prevent us from doing it again 1. Turns out one person in our group gets motion sickness on overnight trains. 2. Seems expensive for what you get. I realize you may save on hotel, but our hotel plus a daytime train ticket would have cost about the same. 3. The rooms were prohibitively tiny. I could not change into pajamas. I could not brush my teeth. I could not get anything out of my luggage. You do have the option of storing your luggage on the luggage train, but it was 10 cars down. 4. I admit to being more sensitive about cleanliness, and the sheets seemed fine, but the corners, sink, and floor could have used another wipe down. 5. The time is brutal. You don’t board until 10:30, and it took us some time to get sorted. I tried to sleep by 11am but couldn’t with the commotion of passengers boarding and conductor checking tickets. And then the train was running late getting into the station, but the announcement didn’t come through our room. We just assumed we would have half an hour after the train stopped to disembark. However, we had 5 minutes to pack up and get off the train after it stopped scheduled to arrive at 7:30 and until 8am to leave, but we arrived at 7:55, with just 5 mins to leave). Even if I had slept soundly, I would have only gotten 6-7 hours sleep, which is not enough for me. 6. I did not sleep soundly because the bed was not comfortable and very small. I am 5’6”, and I couldn’t stretch my legs out all the way unless I was diagonally positioned on the bed. Also, all the aforementioned noise from other passengers and the toilet. In addition, all the noise from the train, and I didn’t realize there would be so many stops and starts. I woke up each time we stopped. 7. We had booked two connecting bunk cabins. In the picture, it shows the whole wall is removed which would have given us some much needed extra space but in reality it was just a small door that opened between our rooms.

I absolutely loved every minute of our Caledonian Express train trip. My mom and I loved the hotel quality bed linen and towels and slept very comfortably. The dining car experience was awesome. True bucket list item checked off!