Caledonian Sleeper - Inverness

arose58

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.

Elena P.

We took a return trip London - Glasgow. That was an awful experience! The beds were super uncomfortable (I slept not more than 2 hours at night), the breakfast was average, the organisation was poor. The lounge was closed at Glasgow so we had to queue in cold to get on the train (I felt sorry for families with kids). The staff was unacceptably rude (especially, thinking about how much we paid for the services; if I treated the clients the same way at work I would be fired straight away for being not competent). This experience didn't worth even a penny we paid for it. I will never come back and I already told all my friends "please don't waste your money on this".

Mark T.

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.

Bencent X.

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.

Alex P.

Nice in theory, and the service, staff etc all great but the experience itself was a bit of a challenge. The cabins are very compact - I've seen bigger wardrobes in IKEA. Once you are in, you're probably not going anywhere - especially if you have any bags. Its these details that lets it down - would be great if the bottom bunk was a little higher so a suitcase could fit underneath. You will also need to be a contortionist to actually get into your bunk - either the top or the bottom, due to the placement of the ladder. The beds themselves are reasonably comfortable but pretty narrow. A bit more thought and this could be great - definitely not a 'luxury experience'. I've taken sleeper trains all over - Europe, India, Vietnam but this one was intense - perhaps its the track, but we felt like we were being thrown around all night. Combined with the noise, it's not exactly conducive to sleep. I'd suggest a few drams before bed (or something stronger) if you want to get some decent rest! We didn't have any sleep aids and all arrived in Glasgow the next day pretty worse for wear after very little sleep - including the dog 😉

C G. E.

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.

Will H.

I had been genuinely excited for this trip, the route’s scenic reputation and the premium accommodation had set high expectations. While the views were indeed stunning, the onboard experience was extremely disappointing and fell far below acceptable standards.

My partner and I had a range of serious issues we encountered while being relocated to three different rooms. Here is a summary:

First room: There was no air conditioning, an unacceptable condition for a summer journey. After contacting the staff, we hauled our luggage to a new carriage.

Second room: The interior door handle was broken, leaving us trapped inside. This was not only uncomfortable, but actively unsafe. After using the intercom to call for help, we were released and relocated again, this time schlepping our bags the length of two train cars.

Third room: There was no running water, either in our room or the carriage restroom. We had to walk to another carriage any time we needed basic facilities. To make matters worse, a service phone rang constantly throughout the night, severely disrupting our ability to sleep.

This sequence of problems - lack of climate control, a safety hazard, and unsanitary conditions - played out over more than an hour as we were repeatedly moved between carriages with our luggage. It was exhausting and completely at odds with the standard of service advertised and expected.

We were given a paltry refund of a small percentage of our trip fare that I do not believe it adequately reflects the seriousness of the experience. I could not in good conscious recommend anyone travel on the Caledonian Sleeper.

phil C.

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!