For avid rail travellers, choosing the perfect accommodation and using the right booking website matters, whether you need a good-quality railway station hotel or want fully refundable bookings in case of a train delay or cancellation.
One website I often use on my rail travels around Europe and beyond is Booking.com, as it offers several useful features that are particularly handy for train travellers.
** I receive a small commission when you book accommodation through Booking.com using the search widget or link above. This comes at no extra cost to you, but it helps me maintain my website and support further rail travel research. **
Why Booking.com is great for train travellers
Beyond its competitive prices, straightforward booking process, and extensive accommodation listings – which include hotels, hostels as well as apartments – Booking.com has a number of features that make it particularly handy for train travellers.
Staying at a hotel close to a railway station can be particularly useful when you travel by train.
Booking.com has several handy features that make finding such accommodation much easier.
One of Booking.com’s biggest advantages for train travellers is the ability to search for accommodation around a specific railway station rather than just entering the name of a city. You can use major stations as your search location, whether that’s Paddington station in London or Wien Hbf in Vienna, and see which hotels and apartments are nearby.
This is particularly useful if you want to avoid a long journey across town after arriving by train, or would rather not travel far to catch an early morning departure.
Booking.com’s map view makes the process even easier, allowing you to compare accommodation locations at a glance and see exactly how close each property is to the station.
My room at the Hyatt Place Gothenburg Central, a great hotel located inside the railway station of this Swedish city. ©AndyBTravels
Other benefits of Booking.com
One of the things I particularly appreciate about Booking.com is the flexibility offered by many hotels listed on the platform.
Depending on the property and room type, you can often book a stay with free cancellation, sometimes right up until 18:00 on the day of arrival. Many hotels even let you reserve a room without paying upfront, requiring only a credit card to secure the booking, with the bill settled when you arrive at the hotel.
This flexibility can be especially valuable when travelling by train, as delays, cancellations and misconnections can sometimes disrupt even the best-planned itinerary.
If a train is cancelled and you cannot reach your intended destination that evening, being able to cancel your hotel reservation at short notice can save you from losing the cost of a prepaid stay.
I also find these flexible booking conditions particularly useful when travelling with an Interrail pass. One of the main advantages of travelling with a rail pass is the freedom to change your plans along the way. Perhaps you decide to spend another night in Krakow rather than continue to Prague, or fancy heading to Turin instead of Milan.
With hotels that allow free cancellation, you can adjust your plans, cancel your original booking, and find somewhere to stay at your new destination.
The view over the station and railway tracks from my hotel room window at the Mercure Hotel in Katowice. ©AndyBTravels
Genuine reviews
Another aspect of Booking.com I really appreciate is its honest guest reviews, which can only be submitted by people who have actually booked through the platform and completed their stay.
Reading about other travellers’ experiences gives you an honest overview of what to expect from a railway station hotel or other accommodation options at your destination, from the quality of the rooms and breakfast to the location, cleanliness, and overall service.
These reviews make it much easier to compare different accommodation options and decide which hotel is right for you.
Railway station hotel reviews
I’ve stayed at numerous railway station hotels on my travels and reviewed a couple of them on this website:
1. Hyatt Place Gothenburg Central
2. Hyatt Place Leeds
3. Moxy Warsaw Praga (Warszawa Wschodnia)
