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Review: the Caledonian Sleeper lounge at London Euston station

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This is my review of the Caledonian Sleeper lounge at London Euston station.

HfP has been meaning to review the new Caledonian Sleeper trains since they were launched in 2019, after £150m was invested in new rolling stock. There were initial service and reliability issues which persuaded us to delay a trip, and then of course we had the pandemic.

The opening of a new lounge at Euston last November made us feel that it was the right time to give it a go, and we were tempted by a 25% discount offer available for trips in January. It still cost HfP over £300 for a one-way trip to Inverness in a double bedded room …..

Review: The Caledonian Sleeper lounge at London Euston

Click here for my review of the Caledonian Sleeper train itself. In this article I want to look at the Euston lounge.

The Caledonian Sleeper lounge at Euston station

Ahead of my journey to Inverness I checked out the lounge which is located on Platform 1, the platform where the train departs from.

Access to the Euston station lounge is available for holders of Double En-suite and Club Room En-suite tickets. It doesn’t appear that other passengers can buy access to the lounge which is a bit of a shame, but to be honest I think capacity would become an issue.

The lounge opens at 18.00 although the first departure time for the Sleeper is 21.15. This is presumably for the benefit of people needing somewhere to wait after leaving their office.

I arrived at 18.30 and I wasn’t the first passenger there, but it was just early enough to get a few pictures before it became busy.

The lounge can also be used after your arrival back into London which is handy if you want to get a shower here instead of in the tiny train bathroom.

The lounge is welcoming with lots of bench seating and small tables. Everything is still very new and fresh, with the lounge under two months old.

Review: The Caledonian Sleeper lounge at London Euston

There appeared to be enough plugs and the WiFi worked well.

Review: The Caledonian Sleeper lounge at London Euston

There are also corners where larger groups can gather:

Review: The Caledonian Sleeper lounge at London Euston

Food in the Caledonian Sleeper lounge

If you want to eat before you board your train there are a number of options.

Sweet and savoury snacks are complimentary. If you want something bigger in the evenings then there is a paid-for lounge menu with toasted sandwiches, nachos, pizza twists, soup and sausage Wellington.

If you want to get into the Scottish mood, you can order Haggis, Neeps, Tatties with Whisky Sauce for £14.

For dessert you can choose from a brownie or a £14 cheese board. Non-alcoholic drinks are complimentary whilst alcoholic drinks are available for purchase.

Review: The Caledonian Sleeper lounge at London Euston

The lounge menu also includes breakfast options for arriving passengers, such as bacon or sausage rolls and pastries. I don’t know how big these are but they seem fairly priced by lounge standards at £5.50 with the pastries at £2.50.

Review: The Caledonian Sleeper lounge at London Euston

Here are the modest free snacks on offer:

Review: The Caledonian Sleeper lounge at London Euston

…. and the non-alcoholic drinks:

Review: The Caledonian Sleeper lounge at London Euston

I had a toasted sandwich (smoked ham & cheddar cheese) with tortilla chips which did the job, and only cost £6:

Review: The Caledonian Sleeper lounge at London Euston

Whether the lounge should be charging at all for food is a different question, of course. Given that my one-way ticket would have been over £400 at full price (£500 for a couple), and was still over £300 with the 25% January discount, allowing at least one free food item per passenger wouldn’t hurt.

The showers

I was impressed by the toilet and shower facilities, which are new and very clean. Toiletries from Scottish brand Arran and towels are provided at no charge.

To my mind it is a good alternative to have a shower here on arrival rather than onboard, especially if you come from Glasgow or Edinburgh which have much shorter journey times than my Inverness train.

Review: The Caledonian Sleeper lounge at London Euston

and

Review: The Caledonian Sleeper lounge at London Euston

Conclusion

This is an inviting lounge, perhaps a bit on the small side but with the benefit of everything being new.

With my Inverness train not boarding until 20.30 it was good to have somewhere to spend a couple of hours, especially as the main concourse at Euston is neither inviting or warm.

The shower facilities are excellent and as the lounge is open in the morning until 10.30 it also works as a smart arrivals lounge.

Click here for my review of a double bedded Club room on board the Caledonian Sleeper.


Getting airport lounge access for free from a credit card

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (April 2025)

Here are the five options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,500 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Eurostar, Lufthansa and Delta Air Lines lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here.

You can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £290 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A good package, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

Got a small business?

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum which has the same lounge benefits as the personal Platinum card:

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

You should also consider the Capital on Tap Pro Visa credit card which has a lower fee and, as well as a Priority Pass for airport lounge access, also comes with Radison Rewards VIP hotel status:

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.

Comments (124)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • cin4 says:

    Why not have a shower on board? The whole point would be to save time.

    The sandwich looks rank and the dry tortilla chips are really taking the mickey. If they think £14 supplement for a cheese board in a lounge is worthy of “wow!” they might be in for a surprise.

    Décor looks bland and closer to a dentist’s waiting room than a luxury travel lounge.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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