I spent 20 hours in a roomette on an Amtrak train from Chicago to New York City, and thought it was worth the $800 price tag. Check out the 20-square-foot room.

I recently spent three days traveling across the country by train. The journey was broken into two segments: a 32-hour train from Montana to Chicago, and 20 hours from Chicago to NYC. In total, the one-way trip cost $800.

In comparison, coach tickets — where you'd only have a single seat in a shared car — cost around $315 at the time of writing.

After a five-hour layover in Chicago, I boarded Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited train. To get to my room, I walked down a hallway lined with other private rooms and roomettes.

As I arrived at my private roomette, I was struck by just how nice the little room was. At just 20 square feet, it felt cozy yet spacious.

On either side of the roomette was a fairly plush seat, which folded down into a bed when it was time to sleep.

The seats had large armrests which were great during the ride, but they also took up a few extra inches, which made the bed feel smaller. In a room this small, every inch counts.

Because of that, I slept on the top bunk, where there were no armrests and it felt a bit wider.

In between the two chairs was a large table that pulled out from the wall, which I used for working and writing.

The steps leading to the top bunk transformed into a sink.

It even came with small cups that you could presumably use to drink the sink water, but I didn't try it.

A trash can pulled out from beneath one of the chair's armrests.

There were several hand towels and washcloths, as well as a thin but functional mirror.

There was even a thermometer and vents to adjust the airflow.

When the overhead lights became too bright, there were small, dimmable reading lights that I used before bed.

No space in the roomette was wasted: Across from the top bunk was extra storage, but since I was traveling light, I didn't need it.

Down the hall, there was a bathroom about the size of those on airplanes. Since I didn't spend a lot of time in the loo, I didn't mind the size.

I didn't use the shower, but there was one available — except it seemed to be being used as storage for towels and other cleaning supplies.

Overall, the room was cozy and comfortable — and my favorite part of the trip was relaxing in privacy and watching the views fly by.