Amtrak Coast Starlight Trip – Part 4: Bedrooms at Night, Showers, Parlour Car, and Movie Theater

By popular request, here is is what the Amtrak bedrooms look like when the beds are all folded down into what I like to call “sleep mode.”  Prepare yourself for some slumber party pictures…

The upper bunk…

My friend Victor in the lower bunk…

Various views of the beds in “sleep mode.”  I believe the top bunk is 6×2 feet and the bottom bunk is 6×3 feet.  There is a small ladder on the end to allow “easy” access to the top bunk.  (For the record, it is not very easy to get in the top bunk and getting off the top bunk is a bit trickier).

The top bunk has a “bunk bra” / net to catch any passengers who roll out of bed.  Victoria Secret has nothing on this thing!

Sleeping on the train is definitely a unique experience.  I’m not going to say that I had the best sleep of my life (far from it), but it definitely an experience you will remember.  Side note, don’t drink caffeine before going to bed.  Throughout the night, I could hear the train tracks, other trains we passed, and people walking in the hallway.  I think a good sleep aid would have done the trick.  The beds are barely big enough for 1 person, so 2 people would be a tight squeeze.

I had the privilege / honor / distinction of trying out the in-room shower.  I have more pics of the shower here.  When you close the restroom door, there is a shower curtain that goes in front of the door and snaps into place.  There is a small drain on the floor.  As for the shower, the water is very warm and the shower head detaches and can be maneuvered around the shower.  I’m honestly impressed by the shower in the room.

For passengers in roomettes or in coach seats, there are communal showers on the bottom level.  Take the stairs down and you will see showers and restrooms.  This is what stairs look like…

The communal showers are bigger than the in-room showers.

The communal restrooms are also bigger downstairs (still the size of an airplane restroom).

My favorite part of the train ride is hanging out in the parlour car.  This parlour car is only available on certain Amtrak trains, including the Coast Starlight train.  Luckily, the bedrooms are in the cars adjoining the parlour car.  There are 8 swivel chairs available on a first come first sit basis.  The swivel so you can see out both sides of the car.

The parlour car also has Wifi (thank God!) so it is often a busy place.  You meet some really interesting people on Amtrak.  Great stories were told here.

There are also some small tables and couches past the swivel chairs.

Last but not least, the lower level of the parlour car has its own movie theater.  It has about 10 rows with 3 seats in each row.  The video quality is pretty good, but the sound quality is not very good.  Sit close to the front if you want the best audio quality.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  I am working on a dining review coming up shortly.  Stay tuned!