From start to finish, absolutely not the 5* experience I was expecting. We were told to check in between 10h00 and 12h00. What a waste of a good morning, sitting in a lounge and served snacks consisting of a fruit platter, mini pastries and drinks. I suppose if you drink alcohol, then the experience may be 5* for you. We eventually boarded and left at 14h30. Despite stating we were alcohol free, we were given a bottle of champagne in our room. After requesting a non-alcoholic beverage, it was replaced with a JC LeRoux bottle of non-alcoholic juice, which was removed from our room before we got to use it, while we were at dinner. Our first lunch on the train was a finger lunch. Really tasty, but brought out so slowly that people were standing around waiting with empty plates. Dinner was decent, but unfortunately the chef was unable to cook a steak. My husband's medium steak was overdone and dry. My fish was done perfectly though. For breakfast my french toast was very dry and not soaked through with the egg mixture and my fried banana was burnt and over caramelized. My biggest disappointment wrt the food was that the high tea we were served, was from a selection of cakes bought at our local food chain store, Woolworths. I had expected something a lot more "grand". Breakfast toast was also just ordinary white and brown bread from Woolworths, with no variety of sourdough or seed loaf. I expected artisanal breads for this experience. The worst problem though, was that we had no running nor flushing water for a few hours on our first night, as well as no water for the last 5 hours of our journey. The stench in the bathroom was quite unpleasant. The decor on the train needs some TLC and refurbishing. The beds are really comfortable though. The staff were pleasant and tried hard, but also not trained sufficiently at a 5* level. Our transfers from the train to Sandton and from the hotel to the airport was really good. The drivers were punctual and professional, and the vehicles were new and smart.

Our journey on The Blue Train took place on March 15, 2017. From making reservations to the end of our journey, we were impressed with the finesse we experienced. A train executed with aplomb, no wonder it has been rated as the very best in the world for eight years consecutively. Plus a few times more. Highly recommended.

Beautiful