European Sleeper Reviews 

Just awful:
I have been on night trains before (solely in Asia) and had only positive experiences, but this was the first and only time I was disgusted at getting on the train.

The train was almost three hours late, almost no communication at the train station, no information via mail or any other channels. The reason for the delay, when communicated, kept changing, and the train finally arrived on a completely different platform.

The moment I got on, the smell started getting to me: it smelt old and slightly moldy.
The toilet I used, reeked of urine, and the water at the sink didn't work.

I tried to get recompensed for the delay and according to the website I'm due 50% of the purchase price. I got an email after several days, promising me only 25%. When I asked about their website stating that a delay of more than 2hours entitled me to 50% of the purchase price, I never got a reply and as today I'm still waiting for my money (even the 25% have not been transferred).

Update:
After contacting European Sleeper again, I have now received my 25% refund. Still, nobody has answered my question as to why I've only been refunded half the amount I am entitled to.

I will most definitely never use this provider again and would recommend that anyone else looking for a reliable, clean train and good customer service looks somewhere else.

Confortable beds, pleasant staff and good views!

Honestly the worst experienxe ever. Thanks for nothing.

They cancelled our Berlin to Amsterdam sleeper 54 hours before departure, carriage fault. Their email said we could arrange our own transport and claim it back, and even mentioned flights.

So I emailed and asked them to either approve what I’d found or give me an alternative. Asked twice. Rang the emergency line on the day of travel, no answer. Tried WhatsApp. Nothing. They never offered a single alternative journey.

Ended up booking a flight and an extra night in Berlin at 21:55, about an hour before our train should have left, because no help was coming and the trains had sold out.

Claimed £1,277.70 with invoices. They said it wasn’t proportionate, offered €750, and when I asked where that number came from they wouldn’t say. Then closed the case claiming they’d already explained the alternatives. They never gave me one. Paid the €750 seven weeks later, after chasing.

Worth knowing: their contact page still sends you to the EU Online Dispute Resolution platform if you want to escalate. That shut down in July 2025.

After an already significantly delayed outbound journey, our return trip with European Sleeper turned into a nightmare.

Our train from Berlin to Brussels, scheduled for 23:01, was delayed repeatedly at the last minute, eventually by five hours. We were left stranded in a foreign city, in the middle of the night, with no alternative transport offered whatsoever, and an onward connection in Brussels scheduled four hours after our expected arrival — which we still ended up missing.

We had no choice but to arrange our own journey, booking the cheapest alternative (still €334 for two, everyone had the same idea). Instead of enjoying a proper night's sleep in a bed before a working day — the entire point of taking a sleeper train — we spent the night switching between regular trains, in completely unsuitable sleeping conditions, arriving exhausted.

European Sleeper agreed to refund our unused tickets (the bare minimum), but refused to reimburse our replacement transport, despite having offered no alternative themselves. Their entire explanation: "Alternative transport we don't refund." No more explanations neither, contact after that.

When I pointed out that EU passenger-rights legislation provides for reimbursement under certain conditions and asked them to justify their refusal, they stopped responding. Their only other gesture? A generic apology and a 20% discount on another booking. As if we'd want to repeat the experience...

Technical problems happen. Abandoning passengers overnight, leaving them to organise and pay for their own transport, then refusing to take responsibility is unacceptable. A terrible advertisement for European night trains.

Booked a Hamburg - Paris night train with European Sleeper - I was genuinely excited, I used to take night trains frequently years ago, would call myself a train enthusiast and I dislike flying.
Train originally planned for 22h, arrival Paris 11h. In reality, the train arrived with 5h delay at Hamburg already - and this is simply not acceptable for a night train, you cannot leave your passengers stranded until 3am waiting/praying it will arrive finally. And I consider myself lucky, I was travelling alone, I don't even want to imagine what would happen with kids.
And yes, as per policy we are entitled to a 50% refund, but in this specific situation I still don't consider it enough.
Otherwise, the trip went fine... Such a pity.

Just to clarify: "vintage" doesn't mean "rickety."
Comfortable, durable, and relaxed: two days before departure, I received a notification regarding the train scheduled departure time—3:18 PM. Fortunately, the timing didn't really matter in this instance. I had booked a Frecciarossa (Italian high-speed train) from Florence to Milan, and it was set to arrive in Milan with plenty of time to spare.
No hassle with having my first-class business seats rebooked to economy tickets because all the business seats were already full—because that is exactly what happened on the outbound journey. A "luxury problem"? No; I only travel once a year, and I want to do so in peace and comfort. Having to swap tickets for a downgrade two days in advance isn't part of that. It wasn't until around 3:00 PM that we were notified of an initial 60-minute delay; that was quickly revised to 120 minutes. By then, the sense of relaxation was already partly gone. And when I actually boarded the train, it turned out that the promised comfort was far from a reality. While the compartment on the outbound journey could be described as charming, this one was downright filthy and wretched. I hardly dared touch anything. The table was dirty. The seats were in various states of disrepair. The washbasin was best avoided... Well, a train like that is certainly sustainable, seeing as it’s still in use, right?
The most comfortable travel option, with up to 3 beds.
Washbasin in the compartment, toilets elsewhere in the carriage: That description is completely inaccurate. Here’s the reality: a washbasin with no water in the compartment, and toilets two or three carriages ahead or behind. I paid 479 euros only to have no water in the washbasin and to share a single toilet with three carriages! I should also mention that the usable toilets were overused and barely flushed—not to mention the stench. I haven't even mentioned that the carriages behind us had no electricity or water, and therefore no lights either. That meant if I wanted to brave those toilets at the back, I first had to make my way through two carriages in pitch darkness. That meant navigating the gangway between the carriages twice. I wouldn't recommend anyone try to walk through a moving train in the dark looking for a toilet. We were given a bottle of water to freshen up in our own compartment. A nice touch, certainly—though perhaps the least one could expect after paying 479 euros.
Breakfast, mineral water, and a welcome drink are included.
Additional drinks and snacks are available for purchase from the train crew. As for the breakfast: it was provided, certainly, but while using vintage train carriages and the very concept of rail travel are sustainable, the breakfast was the exact opposite. Every single item was wrapped in plastic! Honestly, that is completely outdated. If you’re going to be sitting stationary for an hour every five stations anyway, why not arrange for local partners (in various countries, if necessary) to deliver breakfast baskets containing fresh products? Think pre-made sandwiches (vegetarian or otherwise), a piece of fruit, and a drink in sustainable packaging. Then, on the return journey, you simply hand the whole package—empty box, empty bottle, and all—back to the local partner. With all due respect, it’s not that difficult. Coffee. We all know that taste is subjective, but you managed to make me long for the canteen coffee at my workplace. What I drank on the outbound journey could best be described as undissolved coal dust.The coffee on the return journey didn't exactly cheer me up, either. BUT... let's talk about those "extra drinks and snacks available for purchase." We couldn't get any because there was no network connection. So, it’s great to get a menu showing what’s available on the train when you can't actually buy anything because the network is down! And it’s nice that the staff stops by to offer a comforting drink. It’s just a shame that, as far as alcoholic beverages went, only Cristal was available. Was the wine too expensive?

I was on a trip from Hamburg to Paris and the train was to leave at 21:55 but it got delaid like 5 times and me and my family had to wait 6 hours until the train finaly arrives. What kind of crule joke is this?!

We travelled from Brussels to Milan in a 3-person cabin. The compartment was clean and comfortable, and our steward Abdul was kind and welcoming. The toilets and washrooms were clean throughout. Waking up to views of Swiss mountains and lakes was just joyful.
Our train into Milan arrived later than scheduled but overall, we really enjoyed the trip and would definitely do it again

Our journey back from Switzerland (Aarau ,itself a replacement for original booking from Zurich ) - to Brussels was cancelled at about 36 hours notice by email and text due to technical problems with the carriage we were booked in. A few hours later we received an (incorrect) auto-email looking forward to welcoming us onboard. We had already said we would go for the option of a full refund. We did at least manage to make alternative arrangements to salvage our Eurostar booking but it was a frenetic end to our holiday. 3 weeks later I am having to chase up the refund . A sad contrast with an earlier good experience on our outward route with the OBB Nightjet.

We booked a private cabin Brussels to Milano. Trains are 50+ years old. Cleanliness is so so . Train had 1h30 minutes delay overall. On the way to Milano we received a message that our return ticket was downgraded to standard cabin. God knows why. So price-value is unfortunately low : 1100 EUR for two. Do it once for nostalgy, not twice

It was great to find a direct overnight connection from Switzerland to Brussels.
The conductor staff were very helpfull.
Please do not stop

Had a very nice, smooth and comfortable journey which was great fun. It is a little bit retro that is kinda part of the charm. The staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful, the booking process was super simple and the beds, toilets and everything else was clean and well maintained, would definitely do again.

We were on the 6.00pm from Prague to Brussels last night to arrive in B at 10.30am today. Luckily we had booked through a travel agent so we were informed of the bus between Prague and Dresden the night before. The bus was fine and comfortable. Plenty of room to store your luggage under the bus. Communication was poor once we arrived in Dresden. Luckily my husband and I could stay in a warmer area with one of us popping up to the platform every ten minutes to check whether the train had come in. It was a choice to sit up on the platform if there were more than two of you and it wasn’t overly cold. There were no announcements but there were no announcements for any other trains. The delay was tedious and frustrating but we were only asked to change platform once. Once on board we had great helpful staff. We’ve done our research on these trains. We travel with our own basic food, water, wine, plastic cups, flip flops for bathroom visits and even spare loo paper. We knew there was no dining car and limited food provisions. The shared loos were fine. Any ‘shared’ loo has its limitations! We have also travelled the Nightjet. Similar experience without the delays. European Sleeper had bigger cabins and a seat when both beds were down. I love train travel and especially a sleeper. Nothing better than waking up to a misty morning as Europe wakes up. European Sleeper- get all your loos in working order and wash your outside windows for a start. Then start replacing the carpet in the cabins and go from there. Don’t call yourselves ‘retro’. You are a basic sleeper with super comfy beds and basic service. We ourselves provided some extras which we were happy to do. We will be back.

This is worst train experience of my life. 1. We were bused from Prague to Dresden on old run down buses with no room for our backpack, no charging. 2 in Dresden we waited over 3 hours and were moved to 3 different tracks, lugging our luggage up and down stairs each time. We waited in the cold as we were told the train might be earlier. 3 The train was horrible, musty, dirty. Bathroom was worse. We could not use one of the bunks as it was gross. We did not have enough pillows or bedding even though they knew there were 4 in the cabin. 4 no internet, no food other than basic snacks. 5 we were 3 1/2 hours late, they made up no time. We received no compensation, not so much as a coffee. All we got were lame excuses.

This was so disappointing. Two stars are generous - I considered giving only one. On the way out we were ‘downgraded’ to a much less comfortable option. We were emailed about this but only on the day of travel - I didn’t even see the email until we were on the train ( which was two hours late) and couldn’t find our carriage - let alone our compartment. We received a wholly inadequate refund for this. Our compartment, obviously a late add-on, didn’t even have mattresses. On the way back was possibly worse - late again, though not as much, and no down-grade, but the toilet in our carriage stank so badly it felt like a case of dysentery was just waiting to happen. The whole carriage stank.
Even without these particular problems, the service is hugely overpriced for what you actually get - a trickle of water in a tiny, horrible bathroom shared with the carriage, very basic accommodation ( even in the so called ‘comfort’ and ‘classic’ sections - we were downgraded to ‘classic’ and it’s an interesting use of the word). The track often feels very rough too.
Seriously overpriced for what is basically a ‘roughing it’ experience.
The only reason I am giving two stars is that the onboard staff are lovely and the breakfast is ok.

Edit:

I booked a flight for my journey back and european sleeper can keep their answer and put it in their private comfort plus compartment wagon for 360 wasted euros.
i will go on every social media channel available and tell everyone about their 'service'
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The worst journey I have ever put my family and me through. I dread to take the journey back. I could cry when thinking about the train ride.

We took the ES401 from bruxelles to milano. I decided for european sleeper because they explicitly advertise traveling with family. We have a toddler so I decided to book comfort plus double, so we have some privacy. we are talking about 720€ I tossed out the window. Right from the get go the it was 50mins too late. wagons were shuffled and we couldnt find our cart. it stank heavily and moldy. It was gruesome. the matress were found with stains and hairs and spots. the only seat was never ever cleaned since the 1980s it seems. I became all itchy in the night. Over 5 hours late. instead an 11h journey it became a 16h journey. the staff was indifferent though I know they cant do anything. We will wash our clothing 60°s right now or nothing of our clothing will touch anything ever again. everywhere were stains, the floor was wet. everyone hated their journey, everyone we talked to. the priciest cabins were the shittiest and moldiest. It felt like a total scam. Never ever again, I WARN EVERYBODY

Good to have a sleeper option but one of the toilets didn't work and there was no ladder in our compartment to access the top bunks. Staff were perfectly pleasant but didn't have solutions to the situation.

The trains arrival / boarding was delayed multiple times with no clear information, it even changed platform. Eventually it arrived 30 mins late. We were in carriage 57. I had looked at the train plan that day and it was meant to be 5 carriages back from the engine (61/60/59/58). but it wasn't. We had to walk past carriages 56 and 55 to find it - and we weren't the only ones panicking when the carriage wasn't where it was supposed to be.

But we found it, got on - and our compartment was not as advertised. It had a very dirty carpet, the seat cushions were worn, there wasn't the separate seating area that the photos on the website had suggested.

Even one of the window blinds was jammed closed.

Everything was just old, dirty and worn out.

The train manager came along so we asked could we borrow a hoover to at least clean the floor but it was not possible - and that was when he told us the toilets in our carriage were not working and we'd have to use the toilets at the far end of the next carriage..

However he was very reasonable, as helpful as he could be and polite. We booked our breakfast for 9 am the next morning.

The bedding was clean but the pillows were very thin.

There were three beds made up in our carriage (despite there being only two of us) so we had to put the middle bed up and one of us sit on the lower bed.

But we made the best of it, While we were sat reading I spotted the wash basin cabinet had a light that came on automatically when the washbasin cabinet was opened, I closed the doors, the light went off, the train jolted, the doors moved slightly the light came back on, I closed the doors, the train jolted, the light came back on etc etc. There was no hot water and the cabinet doors had rusty edges.

The train seemed to spend long periods of time stationary - but when it was moving it was not smooth at all, it jolted as though any suspension it once had had long ago given up the ghost

When it was time to sleep we had to get the train manager back to lower the middle bed, We closed the one functioning blind and tried to sleep, the blinds were pointless - every time you went though a built up area or a train passed the carriage lit up, the washbasin light kept coming on - eventually I tied the doors together to stop them opening.

I got very little sleep that night. A combination of lights going on/off, train noise, being jolted awake by the jarring ride, a thin pillows etc etc

I gave up trying to sleep at about 0630 and I trekked to the toilet, Which was now 2 carriages away as another toilet had failed overnight. And with so many people having to use one toilet it smelled really really bad..

Only 2 hours till breakfast though..

The scenery in Switzerland was stunning - but a train announcement said we were now 90 minutes behind schedule.. Clearly all the holdups the previous evening and over night had added up.

I was sat in the chair and spotted what looked like two seat bases under the bottom bunk. I put the bottom bunk up and there were two much cleaner and less worn seats. After I had spent 5 hours sitting on a bed the previous night when there was perfectly good seating there that we just didn't know about.

Breakfast arrived at 1045 prompt - only an hour and 3/4 late.

We'd really looked forward to this part of our holiday and it failed on so many levels..

But when you can't even clean the carriages or provide adequate toilet facilities

On the positives: the on board staff were friendly and helpful. We slept moderately well in clean and cosy bedding. The journey through Switzerland afforded lovely views.

Sadly: our train arrived over four hours late meaning we missed our connection and had to rebook at our expense. The only compensation was 50% Euro Sleeper cost.
Our cabin was dirty with visible debris on the floors and seats. The surfaces were grimy- we used wipes which came out black after cleaning the surfaces.
The quite expensive breakfast was just adequate.

I think we would want to see an uptick in service before booking again.