Night Riv arrival at Penzance

[ge-gn]

So I’ve got my first trip on the down Night Riviera planned in a couple of weeks, and I was just hoping for a little advice.

I was hoping to get a shower on arrival at Penzance, but from looking at the GWR website under the “Difference between seat and cabin“ tab on the night riviera page it seems to suggest this is only available to passengers in a sole occupancy cabin (I am in a twin). Is this correct? If I can get a shower is there likely to be much of a queue for this facility?

Also, can anyone recommend a decent breakfast place in Penzance? Obviously I’ll have my appetiser on the train, but I’ll need a good fry up once I’ve arrived (and hopefully freshened up!]

Many thanks.

 

[bspahh]

You could try the swimming at the Jubilee Pool, where you can swim in the unheated pool or lounge in the geothermal one. The showers are warm, either way and there is a cafe

The UK's Most Celebrated Saltwater Lido - Jubilee Pool, Penzance, Cornwall

Cornwall’s celebrated Art Deco lido on Penzance's Promenade

jubileepool.co.uk

 

[Iskra]

Might be worth asking if you can buy a shower token at the ticket office. I've only ever travelled Cornwall to London Paddington and I know there is a shower there that you can theoretically buy a token to use (although I've never actually done it because I've only travelled solo in a cabin).

 

[Mike99]

Sullivan's Diner just to the left of the Taxi Rank outside Penzance station as you leave the station gets some good reviews, or check in advance with the Premier Inn which is outside the station you might be able to pay for buffet breakfast as a non resident.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Might be worth asking if you can buy a shower token at the ticket office. I've only ever travelled Cornwall to London Paddington and I know there is a shower there that you can theoretically buy a token to use (although I've never actually done it because I've only travelled solo in a cabin).

Paddington's showers are a general station facility which can be paid for (I have done once). It appears from Googling that the Penzance ones are in the first class lounge which is only available to first class passengers, which in Sleeper terms is or always was solo occupancy only as an inclusive Advance (or 1st class ticket plus supplement).

 

[Iskra]

Paddington's showers are a general station facility which can be paid for (I have done once). It appears from Googling that the Penzance ones are in the first class lounge which is only available to first class passengers, which in Sleeper terms is or always was solo occupancy only as an inclusive Advance (or 1st class ticket plus supplement).

Could entrance to the lounge be bought with a first class ticket from Penzance to St Erth?

 

[wensley]

Doesn't open until 0900 but the Front Room (https://thefrontroompz.co.uk/new-menu/) does a very good breakfast and the staff are always really friendly whenever I've dropped in. Sullivans is also a decent option!

 

[ge-gn]

Thanks for the tips re breakfast, although the Sullivans sausage looks distinctly average.

So I’ve just been looking at the Night Riviera webpage again, and the bit with the swipe through pictures which says “at the station” seems to suggest that the lounge is open to all berth holders before and after travel, and all lounges have showers if you’d like to freshen up. Bit confusing really. Maybe a message to GWR will reveal the truth.

 

[Devonian]

According to the current GWR website at https://www.gwr.com/travelling-with-us/night-riviera-sleeper, "All our cabin guests enjoy use of our lounges and showers at Paddington, Penzance, and Truro. As well as a complimentary light breakfast on board." (My italics).

This was certainly the case for all passengers before the pandemic - and the archive version of their website confirms that both twin and single cabins were treated identically until everything went belly up in 2020. After all, all the berths effectively became Standard Class in 2008 when the requirement to share with strangers was removed.

However... the same current web page also includes a section that only explicitly states that twin berth passengers may use the Paddington lounge on departure, does not state that twin berth passengers can use the Paddington Lounge on arrival and does not list the Truro and Penzance lounges as available for twin cabins. This may be a a change of policy that is restricting the use of facilities for twin berth cabins - or it may just be careless typing. It's possible that if there has been a change, it is or was temporary to restrict numbers in the lounges due to our old friend CV-19.

It would certainly be useful to get a definitive answer on this.

 

[ge-gn]

A WhatsApp enquiry brought a prompt positive reply…

 

[Busaholic]

Your best bet for breakfast (ignore the cafe attached to the station and the greasy Sullivan's opposite) is the Quirky Bird on Market Jew Street, right hand side as you walk up, opposite the Front Room. It opens at 8.30 and has outside tables. You'll wait half an hour to get even a coffee at Front Room! The service has always let it down.

 

[185143]

There's a Wetherspoons up the road... though I stumbled into there after a horrific night in the seats in Summer 2020 and received one of the worst meals I've ever had. If I hadn't been so sleep deprived and pissed off, I'd have sent it back, Eat Out to Help Out or not.

 

[Busaholic]

There's a Wetherspoons up the road... though I stumbled into there after a horrific night in the seats in Summer 2020 and received one of the worst meals I've ever had. If I hadn't been so sleep deprived and pissed off, I'd have sent it back, Eat Out to Help Out or not.

Not to be recommended - 'you don't be around from these parts' might not be said, but you'll become aware of the stares from the regulars on their stools which come much nearer to the serving counters than is usual in Wetherspoons. You might also find it difficult to catch the eye of the bartender.

 

[185143]

Not to be recommended - 'you don't be around from these parts' might not be said, but you'll become aware of the stares from the regulars on their stools which come much nearer to the serving counters than is usual in Wetherspoons. You might also find it difficult to catch the eye of the bartender.

I've always been too drunk to care when I've been in that particular 'Spoons to be honest! That said, I have noticed the service to be relatively poor on more than one occasion. Then again I've been in and it's been great. So never thought anything of it.

 

[Starmill]

Paddington's showers are a general station facility which can be paid for (I have done once). It appears from Googling that the Penzance ones are in the first class lounge which is only available to first class passengers, which in Sleeper terms is or always was solo occupancy only as an inclusive Advance (or 1st class ticket plus supplement).

Could entrance to the lounge be bought with a first class ticket from Penzance to St Erth?

The Night Riviera sleeper hasn't offered First Class now for quite a while.

 

[Iskra]

The Night Riviera sleeper hasn't offered First Class now for quite a while.

…I don’t see how that’s relevant to buying a cheap first class ticket to gain lounge access?

 

[Starmill]

…I don’t see how that’s relevant to buying a cheap first class ticket to gain lounge access?

It's relevant in two ways to this query. The first is that class isn't what determines access to the lounge for sleeper passengers, it's whether they have a berth or not. Customers with a berth wouldn't need to try and get access to the lounge using some additional ticket because it's already included. A standard class ticket with a sleeper supplement is sufficient. Secondly if you were travelling on the sleeper you might not be travelling at a time of day when there's a train to St Erth with first class running so it's not a certainty that this method would get you access.

 

[Goldfish62]

There's a Wetherspoons up the road... though I stumbled into there after a horrific night in the seats in Summer 2020 and received one of the worst meals I've ever had. If I hadn't been so sleep deprived and pissed off, I'd have sent it back, Eat Out to Help Out or not.

A couple of years ago it was voted the worst Spoons in Cornwall.