Ricardo_215

Does anyone know about the Madrid to Paris night train (trenhotel). I'm thinking of booking for January for journey from Morocco to UK (assisted by seat61.com) for my wife and me. I'm trying to work out what "Mini a deux" includes. I think it includes breakfast but not dinner, for which (reasonbly enough) you have to pay extra, & have a gran classe room with shower. Anyone used these trains? Alternative seems to be the Lunea train with couchettes via Irun / Hendaye to Paris which may also be a good option. But it doesn't appear on websites after Sunday 2 January except for Friday nights only.
Any comments or suggestions welcome. I am working out a single journey from Marrakesh to UK (flying going out).
Thanks

GeoffHamer

The two-berth compartments on this train are "preferente", with a wash basin, and breakfast, or "gran clase", with a shower and WC, and dinner with wine, and breakfast.
I don't know which is "mini a deux". Where does this come from? It's best to look at the RENFE website to see what's available.

Ricardo_215

That was on the www.tgv-europe.com I think, or maybe the French www.voyages-sncf.com. As I don't live in UK I can't use raileurope.co.uk (they don't take my credit card). I think the same thing is on renfe, but it kept switching back to Spanish when I tried it, & I prefer French (better still, English!) It seems to be a compartment for 2 which includes breakfast. What's for breakfast, anyone? Hardly the full Irish (or English) of eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, etc...

GeoffHamer

If it's a two-berth compartment with breakfast, it's a preferente compartment. The breakfast is served in the restaurant car. I seem to remember being offered some ham and scrambled egg, but it's similar to breakfasts in Spanish hotels - rolls, jam, coffee, juice, etc.
I used the service in December 2008 and managed to get a cheap ticket for the "gran clase".
If you book via the SNCF, you'll need to get the ticket in the post if that's possible. Booking via RENFE brings problems with payment. Many people, including me, have had problems completing bookings on RENFE's website.

Ricardo_215

Thanks.
Well I've booked it now, went the whole hog: meal, etc. It better be good! I got a confirmation email from renfe, (I can't read Spanish but it seems ok!) & I have to print out tickets myself. I did have a problem with the website, but it turns out it was my own visa refusing payment from a suspicious foreign retailer. This was with both renfe & tgv-europe. I had to phone visa & then they let it through. In the confusion I hadn't noticed that the price I paid on renfe (€330.90) cost slightly more than tgv-europe; (€322) for 2. (I wonder why.) We decided not to stay in Paris this time, so I've allowed about 3 hours there & we'll go direct to London.
Now I need to work out when to get Algeciras to Madrid & decide whether we should stay a few days in Madrid or perhaps somewhere else en route. (Seville? Cordoba? Rondo?) Maybe this last question should go on another thread...

Ricardo_215

All went well. When we arrived at Madrid station I asked at one of the booths about the first class lounge but was told it wasn't for us. Was it the rucksacks and baggage we were carrying? Anyway, thanks to www.seat61.com I didn't give up, kept looking and found the lounge which did accept us in, and as you relax there you can enjoy complimentary beer, minerals, peanuts & similar, even newspapers (but very few in English). The room on the train was comfortable and the evening meal & breakfast were fine. We had a couple of 2-year-old Paris metro tickets which worked fine & then a brief wait at Gare du Nord for the eurostar.