We took the luxury overnight bus from SF to LA: Is it worth it?

When Cabin first launched its overnight bus service between San Francisco and Los Angeles in 2016, it was so popular the company reportedly couldn't keep up with demand and had to temporarily halt the service.

Back then it was called "Sleepbus" and offered the one-way ride for $48. Now, it's back and rebranded as "Cabin," a luxury upgrade from the original service, with a big price hike to match. A one-way ticket now costs $115.

With the service costing more and taking more time than flights from SFO to LA-area airports, we decided to try it for ourselves to see what the hype was about.

Photo: Liana Bandziulis The bus parked in an almost empty lot near Bryant Street and Beale...

Warm welcome

I found the bus in a dark parking lot near Bryant and Beale streets in San Francisco. As soon as I arrived, two attendants directed me to the upper deck of the bus where the sleeping pods were located.

By the time I arrived (about 10 minutes before the planned 11 p.m. departure time), all of the upper beds were taken, so I hopped into a lower cabin.

Looking up and down the corridor, I noticed most of the curtains were drawn. It seemed nearly everyone was either working on their laptops or already headed to sleep.

360 Video: Take a look inside the Cabin bus

I struck up a conversation with fellow traveler Liana Bandziulis, a property developer from Los Angeles who was taking the bus to get back home. She had been in Oregon to see the total solar eclipse and had a lot of equipment with her. When her friend suggested Cabin, she thought it would be a great way to get where she needed to go without booking a pricey last-minute flight and dealing with the hassle of airport security.

"I wanted a more comfortable welcome back into the world," she told me. "And more than anything it was the draw of something new."

As I got settled, an attendant kindly offered me tea, which I accepted (a decision that would come back to bite me later).

Photo: Alix Martichoux By the time I arrived, there were no top bunks left. Sleeping on...

Tight squeeze

The sleeping cabin was smaller than I was expecting. The company's website says each space is just more than 6 feet long, 2 feet high and between 2 and 2.5 feet wide. I'm not particularly tall, and I was not able to sit up straight. Basically once you're in the pod, you have to lie down to be comfortable.

The small space was also an issue when it came to stowing my carry-on. While Cabin puts large luggage in a compartment under the bus, you're allowed to keep one personal item like a purse or backpack with you. My bag with a change of clothes, toiletries and technology had to be shoved to the foot of my bed so I could stretch out comfortably.

Photo: Alix Martichoux On each bed was a bag for your shoes, a set of ear plugs, "Dream...

Lights out

After a few safety announcements, we were off. I closed the curtain to my compartment and clumsily changed into my pajamas and took out my contacts. Using the communal bathroom on the lower deck wouldn't have been much easier — it was about the size of an airplane bathroom. The website boasts the onboard bathroom has a "flushable toilet," but doesn't mention it lacks a mirror.

Cabin promises to be an "end-to-end hotel experience," so I found the lack of a fully functional bathroom to be a major downside. What if someone wanted to go straight to a meeting or event after arrival?

When I asked Cabin co-founder and COO Gaetana Crupi, he said, "When possible, we recommend showering prior to the overnight journey and freshening up or changing in the onboard bathroom in the morning just before arrival."

Photo: Alix Martichoux The bathroom was another tight space. While it did have some nicer...

Crupi added the service is always looking for ways to improve and hinted that a better bathroom may be coming down the line eventually.

Bumpy ride

Around midnight, I decided it was time for sleep. Cabin advertises its "luxury bedding" and I have to admit, that was one nice pillow.

Prior to departure we were told the route was specially designed to be the "smoothest" option, but that wasn't my experience. We hit some unexpected congestion and the lurching of the bus in the bumper-to-bumper traffic woke me up a few times.

So did the leftover tea that came splashing down on me when the bus suddenly braked.

Did I mention there were no cupholders? Thankfully the tea was cold by the time it slid off the shelf and onto my bed. Apologies to Cabin if it left a stain on the luxury sheets.

Wake-up call

I woke up to my alarm at 6:45 a.m., 15 minutes before the bus was scheduled to arrive in Santa Monica, but I could tell from the movement of the bus that we weren't yet on city streets.

The map on my phone informed me that we were in the middle of nowhere on Interstate 5, still an hour and a half away from our final destination. I went downstairs to check on our ETA with the stewardess, who said some unexpected traffic was to blame for the delay.

Of course, traffic can't always be avoided. But that didn't change the fact that someone was waiting to pick me up on the other side. And since I was sleeping, I wasn't able to alert her that I was running so late. By the time I woke up, she was already on the way.

For what it's worth, Cabin's COO told me that the company is constantly seeking out ways to reduce delays and is investigating a feature that would send people "arrival time notifications."

"Since your trip, we have already changed the route and have not experienced any significant delays since the change," Crupi said.

Photo: Courtesy Of Cabin Cabin co-founders Tom Currier and Gaetano Crupi stand in front of...

Startup mentality

The way the Cabin crew handled the unexpected delay (politely and apologetically, for the record) says a lot about the way the company operates on a larger scale. The attendants repeatedly asked travelers for feedback and seemed genuinely curious about ways they could improve.

The whole thing felt like a work in progress. And not everyone was turned off by it.

"As a creator myself, I really enjoy watching a company that's still fresh," Bandziulis said. "There's a lot of potential."

The experimental attitude makes perfect sense when you consider the company's CEO and co-founder Tom Currier, a Stanford dropout and former fellow with Peter Thiel's Founders Fund. COO Crupi previously held the same title at gambling platform Betable and founded an entertainment production company.

Bottom line

By 7:30 a.m., as the bus chugged along through LA traffic, most people had woken up and wandered downstairs where the attedants were offering people coffee and granola bars.

When we finally arrived in Santa Monica around 8:35 a.m., the fog and the undeniable smell of urine made it feel like home.

In case we weren't late enough already, the spot on the side of the road where the bus stopped was nowhere near where my friend was able to find a spot to park. By this time, she had been waiting for 1.5 hours and was on a call for work, so she didn't get the memo that I had finally arrived. That left me hauling my bag a mile down Ocean Avenue.

Photo: Alix Martichoux We arrived an hour and a half late, around 8:35 a.m. in foggy Santa...

I wasn't particularly well-rested, frustrated by the delay, and wondering why anyone would choose such a service over a quick 45-minute flight?

To Crupi, the answer is obvious:

"Anyone that values their time immediately understands the concept of Cabin's moving hotel ... for much cheaper than the cost of taking an Uber to the airport, catching a flight, taking an Uber back to your hotel and booking a room (not to mention dealing with TSA, flight delays and more), Cabin consolidates this process into one simple experience while allowing you to catch up on much-needed sleep."

The overnight bus does allow you to save the expense of a hotel. But I would have rather slept in my own bed and taken an early morning flight.

GALLERY: More pictures inside the Cabin bus

Cabin is an overnight bus line with sleeping quarters that transports passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The company considers itself a luxury hotel on wheels and an alternative to driving and flying. less Cabin is an overnight bus line with sleeping quarters that transports passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The company considers itself a luxury hotel on wheels and an alternative to driving and ... more Photo: Courtesy Of Cabin Photo: Courtesy Of Cabin Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close We took the luxury overnight bus from SF to LA: Is it worth it? 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

Also, because of the rather remote drop-off point (near the waterfront in Santa Monica), you can't rely on public transportation to get around the LA metro area, so you'll likely have to pay for a cab or ride-share service just as you would to get to and from the airport.

To me, the experience of riding in a "moving hotel" didn't warrant the extra money and inconvenience.

Bandziulis enjoyed the ride more than I did, but on that note, she seemed to agree. "Was it a $115 experience? Maybe not."

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article stated the bus arrived at a location different than the planned drop-off point. That has been corrected to more accurately describe the arrival.

Read Alix Martichoux's latest stories and send her news tips at amartichoux@sfchronicle.com.