Trainvago

[luckymucklebackit]

I was up in Edinburgh for a couple of days break and we booked a deal with Jury's Inn.  What a perfect view from the room window.  Tip for booking, ask for rooms 223, 224 or any of the equivalents on the upper floors.  Thought we could use this as the start of a thread sharing similar hotels with particular rooms with a railway view.

 

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of locomotives and units that still work into Waverley, the wife wasn't too pleased with the number of photographs I took!

 

Jim

[njee20]

Interestingly the Jury's Inn in Glasgow is right next door to Glasgow Central. Perhaps Jury's like railway-adjacent properties! The Croydon one is close to the railway too.

[great central]

As is the Nottingham one

[jjb1970]

And Aberdeen. The MK one is a short walk from MK Central.

And Aberdeen. The MK one is a short walk from MK Central.

[jamie92208]

Interestingly the Jury's Inn in Glasgow is right next door to Glasgow Central. Perhaps Jury's like railway-adjacent properties! The Croydon one is close to the railway too.

 

I stayed there once as the hotel that I'd booked was closed for refurbishment so I ended up at Jury's, I got a room overlooking the southern end of the platforms and had a great time.

 

Jamie

[jjb1970]

Hotels too near a railway can be awful. I once stayed at the Banana Hotel in Winterthur which is immediately adjacent to running lines of a very busy line that runs through the night. My room backed onto the railway which was great for trainwatching but dreadful for sleeping.

[tractionman]

I was up in Edinburgh for a couple of days break and we booked a deal with Jury's Inn. What a perfect view from the room window. Tip for booking, ask for rooms 223, 224 or any of the equivalents on the upper floors. Thought we could use this as the start of a thread sharing similar hotels with particular rooms with a railway view.

 

Edinburgh April 2017 031.JPG

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of locomotives and units that still work into Waverley, the wife wasn't too pleased with the number of photographs I took!

 

Jim

Nice shot!

 

I stayed recently in the Premier Inn in Edinburgh just a bit further along the same road as your hotel and had a great view of the station platform ends too, marvellous for watching the trains come and go.

 

Other recommendations from me are the Sleeperz hotels at Newcastle upon Tyne and at Cardiff, both have views of the railway at the station throats, good prices too and of course very convenient for catching trains too!

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

Edited April 30, 2017 by tractionman

[SHMD]

There are some great views of Newcastle Station on one side, the Tram bridge on another, and the main Tyne railway bridge on the third side of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

 

But be warned - the Trams' rumbling is passed through the hotels foundations and can be detected in most parts of the hotel.

 

 

 

Kev.

 

[Welly]

My mate always books a particular hotel room when he stays in Paris because that room overlooks the Paris Est station!

 

My work colleague was holidaying in the US and spent a night in a hotel next to a very busy level crossing - the trains were blasting the horns even during the small hours!

 

During 2011 I stayed one night in the Four Points hotel opposite Cologne station which has the perfect view of the eastern platform .

 

 

During 2014 I stayed a night in a Brussels hotel (can't remember it's name!) with an excellent view of the tracks just outside the Midi station.

 

[APOLLO]

We stayed in The La Quinta Inn, Tehachapi California in 2000. Ask for a room with "a railroad view" (as per Trains magazine !). Mrs was not impressed as it is located at Tehachapi summit (not the loop - thats a few miles north), and trains stopped right outside at all hours to detach mid train helper locomotives - noisy !!!

 

http://www.railfanmotels.com/catehachapi.htm

 

This is a useful American site for railfan motels

 

http://www.railfanmotels.com/

 

Brit15

[SHMD]

Might I recommend the Novotel in Nantes, France...

 

Both taken in January 2013.

 

(I don't know what the smoke was in the background.)

 

This is a simple nice warm quiet hotel as everything stops at the Station!

 

 

Kev.

 

[PatB]

You lucky people. Whenever I stay in a hotel all I get a view of is either the bins or the employee smoking area .

[tractionman]

Here's the view from my room window while staying at the Cardiff Sleeperz hotel:

 

 

 

 

Apologies for the rubbish quality...

 

 

cheers,

 

Keith

 

 

[njee20]

The Holiday Inn in Sacramento, California has a decent view of the railway too, albeit not adjacent, remember watching some monstrous UP freights rumbling through the city, horns blaring. Awesome. Must take photos of these things. 

Edited April 30, 2017 by njee20

[96701]

Here's the view from my room window while staying at the Cardiff Sleeperz hotel:

 

 

DSC_0715.jpg

 

 

Apologies for the rubbish quality...

 

 

cheers,

 

Keith

I work in the office block on the other side of the railway.

[jamie92208]

The sands Motel, an older style one, in Cheyenne Wyoming has good views of the UP Main line as it leaves Cheyenne heading for Denver and Sherman Hill.   You can sit on the verandah outside your room and watch the trains roll by while having a long cool drink.   For an eatery the crossroads truck stop just up the road along US 30 has tables by the window that overlook the westbound tracks.   Better still if the weather is warm enough you can eat in the old passenger station (now partly a museum) and there are outside tables by the tracks where every train stops for a crew change.

 

Jamie.

[Taigatrommel]

The Ibis Budget in Bruges overlooks the station.  Similarly, the twin rooms in the Park Plaza, Utrecht, overlook the station.  Unfortunately the doubles are on the wrong side!  In Cologne, the Best Western has great views over the south end of Kalk freight yard.

[96701]

 

The view from Jury's Inn Glasgow if you are lucky enough to get the right room.

 

(Finally got it the right way up!)

Edited May 1, 2017 by 96701

[Ozexpatriate]

The sands Motel, an older style one, in Cheyenne Wyoming has good views of the UP Main line as it leaves Cheyenne heading for Denver and Sherman Hill.  

The Columbia River Inn in Cascade Locks, Oregon overlooks the UP main line into Portland.

 

From rooms in the back it feels like the trains run right under the window. You look down onto the train roofs more than you can see the sides of them.

 

From the adjacent car park you have a pretty good view of the BNSF trains on the north bank of the river.

[jamie92208]

The Columbia River Inn in Cascade Locks, Oregon overlooks the UP main line into Portland.

 

From rooms in the back it feels like the trains run right under the window. You look down onto the train roofs more than you can see the sides of them.

 

From the adjacent car park you have a pretty good view of the BNSF trains on the north bank of the river.

 

The Best Western in Greeley Colorado is right alongside the tracks between Denver and Cheyenne.  When I booked in the staff apologised that my room overlooked the tracks,   I wasn't  bothered in the slightest.  Once I was asleep  heard nothing despite the grade crossing next to the hotel.   For some reason the sounds of trains in the night is very restful for me.  Possibly due to growing up opposite Settle with the constant sound of hard working freights heading up the Long Drag.

 

Jamie

[Rivercider]

Taking a different track (pun intended), I recently enjoyed a one night stay at the Royal Hotel in Bideford,

it stands right next to the old Bideford station, the Tarka Trail cycle route follows the course of the closed line.

At one time the hotel had access direct onto the platform as well as a refreshment room.

I had a good nights sleep with no train noise, but was able to enjoy two superb days walking along the Tarka Trail to Torrington, and then Barnstaple,

 

The Royal Hotel seen from the former down platform. 19/4/2017

 

The view of the old station from room 211, 18/4/2017

 

cheers

[luckymucklebackit]

Resurrecting this thread to add a word of caution - be careful what you ask for!

 

Last week I was on business in Crewe and booked into the Crewe Arms Hotel, at reception I asked if there were any rooms with a view over the railway, after a check of the floor plan they gave me room 103.  Bad, bad move, this room is the ultimate torture for a railway enthusiast, the main room window window does not have a view over the railway, it looks out over the road that crosses Crewe Station with no view of the tracks. Only if you stand on the toilet bowl and open the toilet window you can just about see some trains in and out of the station that are not hidden by the station canopy.  What you can hear very clearly is every announcement made in the station, and if anything moves in or out of platform 1 you not only hear it, you feel it! Thankfully they moved me to another room at the other side of the hotel the second night an I got a nights sleep.  Avoid 103 like the plague!!!

 

 

Jim

[EddieB]

Thank you, Jim for bringing this topic back to life.

 

A couple of recommendations.  First, the Best Western in Luxembourg.  Difficult (but not impossible) to watch trains, but a great view of the main station and just a short walk from the hotel.  The hotel also has (had?) an excellent restaurant.  The downside is that the station area is notorious as being in the red light district - which can lead to some nasty rumours among ones work colleagues. 

 

Secondly, Osnabrück, Germany.  The B&B Hotel is bang opposite the station (but a long trek between the station entrance and the hotel).  Pure luck, but our first-floor family room gave an exceptional view over the high-level platforms.  (Osnabrück is an infuriating place to "bash" as, with two levels and multiple platforms, the chances of being in the right place at the right time is fairly slim).  However, the hotel room (with wide opening window) does give an excellent vantage point.