Don't Book An Amtrak Bedroom Do This Instead

I always get the bedroom as I prefer my own bathroom. My wife used to go with me, but got tired of the hard beds and constant motion. I am not so fussy. Roomettes are too small for two people and even larger people like me. I have never seen a toilet in a roomette. Yes, the bedroom bathroom is tiny, but there are tricks for getting around the negatives which, due to the delicacy of comment, will not be discussed here. When showering, put a towel on the floor right outside to catch the leakage through the door. Also, take the toilet paper out of the dispenser to keep from getting it wet. I always take my shower at about 4 pm. Many folks take showers in the morning so, if you use the public showers, use them before dinner. This precludes waiting in line. I have a whole list of suggestions for riding Amtrak in a room (either one) which I give to my friends who want to try Amtrak. Happy landings!

I have done both and find the bedroom much more convenient especially with nighttime bathroom visits.

My husband and I have experienced the bedroom on three trips. We loved every minute of it. I highly recommend the bedroom over two roomettes. To each his own!

My son and I took the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco and I booked a bedroom. We used the bathroom in the room most of the time but if there was solid waste involved 😊, we would use the community toilet. I did shower one day in tiny wet bath and it was a real challenge. I am six-feet tall and weigh 235. If you drop the soap, there is no space to bend over and pick it up. We did not have any water incursion into the room, but I would just use the community showers from now on. I love the idea of two roomettes! That would have made the trip go from good to great! We stood turns in the seat that faced backwards (which for us was the small jump seat). My wife can't sit still for more than an hour, so she has no interest being on a train for days at a time. For my son and I, it was a great chance to catch up (he is in graduate school, has a son, works part-time and lives 1500 miles away). We played some games, talked about life, marriage, etc. and just really enjoyed our time together. We want to do it again and when that happens, we will for sure be booking two roomettes!

I'm in my 70's & I grew up on trains. My father was a Jr Exec for the Pullman co & we traveled for free, so we travelled a lot. My father was the person the workers on the train didn't want to see if they weren't doing their job. as he was an inspector. I love trains. When we travelled as a family we always had a bedroom or what was called a drawing room. Needless to say, back then, there were no bathrooms in any room. The bedrooms had a toilet & sink & so did roomettes, but in a roomette, you had to put the bed up to use the toilet or sink which had a lid on it that doubled as a seat. I don't know if the beds were bigger but my parents always slept in a lower berth. There was only one bed in a roomette, they were made for single people. I so enjoy watching your videos. I have ridden on several trains & the ride is much more smoothe than it was before Amtrak!

I love the bedrooms . I get a bedroom even if I traveling alone. My husband and I have slept on the lower bed together. I have slept in the upper bed also because he is 6’2”. The bathroom may be small but I’m not sharing with people I don’t know. Thanks for sharing.

It's called a Wet Bath. Many small RVs use it to conserve space . Navy shower, gets you clean but uses very little water, so quick clean up

This sound fantastic compared to my first rail trip west. Back in the early 1970s I went with a friend from St. Paul to Seattle. For the first leg, we were on wooden floors, but the view on both sides and of the stars right above us were amazing. It was hard to sleep since the flatcar was empty and had a rudimentary suspension. As soon as you fell asleep the hard wooden floors would bounce up and meet your face, waking you up. By the next night we were so god awful tired that we had to sleep. There were bathrooms was either side off the flat car, but you had to make sure that the wind does not blow it back on you or your riding partner. The train would stop in various locales, like Minot ND, sometimes to break up the train. This would give you a chance to get some food and drink. I remember more of the drink than the food. The best accomodation we had was in an autorack car, with 3 levels of new little trucks, bound for the west coast. It was easy to flip the vent window and unlock the door. The seats were comfortable and the views of the rockies was great through the windshield. The Burlington Northern yard cops were tolerant, but told us to not ride inside the vehicles. The travelers we met were interesting and informative. Havre, Montana was a wild place. We went in a bar for some needed refreshment. But just after we got comfortable, a respectable couple walked in and started yelling something unintelligible at the bartender. The woman in the couple then through a billiard ball at high speed at the barkeep. He ducked and it shattered the mirror behind him. That was our cue to leave. We found an old school bus with comfy seats and called it a night. There were assorted other fellow travelers. Minot Louis would pour vodka into a plastic Coke bottle "to kill the disgusting taste of the Coke." Another old timer offered a drink out of his water jug, but since the water looked suspicious, I went thirsty. The thought was nice, though. And then a really old former railroad worker in Wenatchee, WA said that things were never the same after diresel replaced steam. That's some real wisdom. Speaking of which, a long tunnel through the Cascades almost asphyxiated us from the diesel exhaust. But I heard that they put bigger fans in there. More than 50 years later, I'm still in Seattle but still yearn for the road. I liked taking that highline route, most of which the Amtrak Empire builder follows these days. So I took my daughter from Seattle to Milwaukee on the Amtrak route, and every minute in our roomette seemed like phenomenally incredible luxury. I was perfectly fine in the top bunk. But there were no stars overhead.

We are on the California Zephyr right now. We took your advice on getting 2 roomettes across the hall from each other instead of a bedroom and we are very glad we did. It was so beautiful going through the Sierra Nevadas today and not missing anything because we had views on both sides. Also, just having your own little paradise is so relaxing. Thanks, you guys! I’ve told all our meal partners about your YouTube channel.

My mother and I did the two roomette option while taking my 6yo nephew on a trip- we loved being able to spread out with the doors open so we could chat across the hall and the little guy could visit and hang with Grandma or me whenever he pleased! We rode from Florida to DC and over to Chicago and had a blast.

As a solo traveler who has always booked roomettes, I find myself seriously considering a bedroom for future trips. The extra room would be very nice to have, particularly when trying to get dressed in the morning!

I found the suggestion of 2 roomettes across from each other very helpful. My brother & I are planning a trip from NYC to Tampa, FL next winter to see our sister, & neither of us can climb into the upper bunk. Since it would only be 1 overnight the shower wouldn't be an issue. I've taken the roomette myself previously & the in-room toilet was very convenient since I'm a bit unsteady walking around. Same for brother, so having his own roomette would also provide convenient privacy for him. Thanks for the advice! 😊

I respectfully disagree. We took the Texas Eagle from IL to LA. We really enjoyed our time in the bedroom. I am 6'2" and 215 lbs. I had no issues with the bathroom or shower. I have no desire to get dressed and walk to the public bathroom. Especially in the middle of the night. Also, the public facilities are never as clean as our private room.

My very first trip from Chicago to Seattle I booked a roomette. When I got on the train I was put in the ADA room! you want to talk about a spacious toilet area! And yes its lower level, but a window on both sides.....It was pretty awesome!

We did that because neither one of us were able to climb up to the upper bunk. Worked out really nicely.

Two roomettes also means two power outlets!

I did this on the coast starlight. I tried to book a family room because I had my husband and three kids (at the time) with me. One of my children was 7 or 8, the next was 2 and the youngest was about 6 months old. They had ran out of family rooms for that trip. We were on the Coast Starlight. We went out of San Jose and were going into Vancouver B.C. Canada. So the person on the phone suggested 2 roommates. We did that. I wouldn’t have wanted a bathroom in the room. And the roomettes were perfect. My sister traveled on the same train with her four kids and her husband but they went coach. It was a huge difference. My son had the run of the train and he would take his cousins with him and run back and forth from coach to the car we were in. The staff made the tables into beds at night. We had access to the little area with snacks and the food was included. We had the option of having dining in our roomettes or they would make us reservations in the dining car. They also had a cheese and wine tasting. My kids watched polar express for the first time right before leaving on the train. It was Christmas time and the train ran behind almost a day because of a snow storm. I didn’t mind because it was almost magical being on the train and watching the cascades with all the snow out the windows. We loved having windows on both sides of the train. I saw this title for the video and thought you meant getting any room was not good and thought you were mad. But I realized what you meant the second you said roomette. I kind of did get to use the family room though because there was no one in the family room most of the trip. We realized there was no one in that room despite it being booked when we called. I’m kinda glad we didn’t though because the 2 roomettes across from each other was better. And yes I showered in the public restroom. It was fine except when a rather large older woman didn’t lock the door and my husband accidentally opened the door in the middle of the night when he went to use the restroom. He was really embarrassed. Lol 😂 I highly recommend doing it that way. I drive for Uber in my spare time and I always recommend people to take the train. I think too many people just forget that they can travel that way and that planes are not the only form of travel. It really was magical.

Great video. I see your point for couples or families traveling by train- using two roomettes could be a better option. I am a solo traveler and I love traveling by train. I always choose the bedroom over the roomette as I get a bit claustrophobic in the roomette. Also, I am an introvert and get uncomfortable having to constantly table share with strangers and make small talk at meals so I tend to take my meals in my room too. I have showered without any problems using the in-room bathroom however, I am only 5'3. And on smother portions of the track, with the extra bit of room, I can get a bit of a workout in the cases of inclement weather during the station breaks.

The bedroom suite is a good option. The bottom bed in a bedroom is much bigger than the top bed. The bedroom suite is more expensive, but it allows both spouses to sleep in a large comfortable bed. The bathroom in the bedroom works for us, and the water from a shower drains quickly. I used to go for roomettes when I was younger and saving money. Now that I'm retired, the increased cost for a bedroom suite is not a problem.

We love the bedroom! We find the shower and bathroom adequate and not too small and love the privacy and the ability to move around the room.