Hotel in a Real Train – An old abandoned train, parked on Santos Beach in the harbor town of Mossel Bay in the Southern Cape of South Africa has been transformed into a good-looking little hotel. It is called “The Santos Express Train Lodge” or simply “Train.” The lodge sits on two abandoned rails, approximately 30 meters from the sea. There are 7 coaches, of which four are the same with sleeper compartments, sharing two toilets and a shower. The fifth coach is transformed into a 16-bed dormitory with a self-catering kitchen.
The last two coaches are the “Royal Ladies,” two vintage coaches dating from the early 1920s, each containing two very roomy suites. In addition, there is a restaurant that serves a good range of traditional South African dishes, like “bobotie,” a dish of spicy ground meat with a savory custard topping. Santos Express Train Lodge is not a luxurious stay, because every sleeper coach is separated into single, double, and budget accommodation units and lodgers share toilets with other boarders, but the toilets and shower are clean.
The rooms are miniature except for the Caboose, which has its own bathroom and a private deck. There’re also no lockers in the compartments, so if you have any valuable items, you could deposit them at the front desk for safe storage.
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