“A good night is different for everyone. But anyone can have a good night with European Sleeper.”
I travelled between Amsterdam and Prague recently on European Sleeper and generally liked the experience. The train was on time in both the directions and the arrangements in the sleeper coach (i.e., bed, duvet, etc) was comfortable. One thing to note is that these coaches are pretty old and do not have charging/ plug points. However, I am giving it only 4 stars because on the train to Prague, the washbasin in our compartment was leaking and the entire floor was wet making our bags, socks, etc wet. Additionally, even though breakfast was included in our fare, we never got any breakfast.
European sleeper profiting from downgrades! European sleeper seems to have issues with broken trains, and I have seen quite a few reviews referring to being downgraded. Technical issues can happen, but European Sleeper seems to want to profit from these mandatory downgrades, by offering a refund which is less than the price difference between the higher and lower train carriage category. Is this a deliberate strategy? Getting people to pay for a private carriage and then making them share anyway with a refund of €25pp? I have now been trying to get them to refund me the real difference in price, and keep hitting a brick wall. Customer service claim to not understand my issue, it's not rocket science you would think. A refund should always be minimum for the value of the difference in service. On top of this issue, they also tried to claim that it would take 10 weeks to refund me, as they had issues with their payment system? At least they corrected that after 4 complaint emails, but still struggling to get a real refund, rather than a made up amount.
We traveled from Brussels to Berlin with our child, who has autism, and from a family perspective, this was an amazing way to reach our destination. Our child was thrilled with everything about the train, which made the journey much easier compared to flying. On the day of travel, our reservation was downgraded from a sleeper to private couchettes, but after considering our options, we decided to go ahead with the trip. The train left and arrived on time, which was a huge plus. While the train is a bit outdated, it still had a pleasant atmosphere. As adults, we found the berths a bit firm, but they were comfortable enough for one night. Sensitive sleepers may find it hard to sleep through the long halts during the night. Another thing to consider is that the announcements continue until 22:00, and unfortunately, there’s no way to mute or reduce the volume, which could be challenging for families with small children. We did have a minor issue with the socket in our compartment, but we came prepared with a power bank, so it wasn’t a big problem. On the positive side, we received complimentary drinking water and a delicious breakfast box. The journey was peaceful, and we would definitely consider doing it again. I sincerely hope the company continues to develop and grow, with the addition of shared spaces or a wagon with amenities like a snack vending machine and a few seats, as well as space for children to play. We really missed having that option.
Our journey from Amsterdam to Dresden was punctual with on time departure and arrivals. There were a number of minor changes which were disappointing and as a result of operating on the national rail networks of Germany and the Netherlands. The departure station was changed from Amsterdam Central to one in the suburbs which was easy to get to and had plenty of bars for a pre journey drink nearby, The arrival time in Dresden was changed to nearly an hour later due to engineering works. And out sleeper coach broke down before the train left Brussels. We did receive some money back and got transferred to a couchette for our sole use which was not as comfortable but sufficed for the journey.
