Visitors to the capital during the Olympics paid more for a hotel room, according to Hotels.com. Picture: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

Olympic Games increased number of London hotel rooms

Luke Jacobs Tuesday, September 25, 2012
12:57 PM

Visitors to London during the Olympics paid around a third more for a room than they would have done at the same point in 2011.

The average price paid for a London hotel for bookings made during the final week of the Paralympics was £108 per night, exactly the same level as the equivalent week of the Olympics, according to Hotels.com.

Those who waited for a late bargain were rewarded with lower prices for both Games as the average price for total bookings during the Paralympics period was £112, up just three per cent on the same period last year.

But for the Olympics it was £146, up 31 per cent on the equivalent 2011 rates.

Hotels.com also believes the Games provided a legacy for the trade - with more than 12,000 new rooms added in London, bringing the total to 140,000.

Alison Couper, from Hotels.com, said: “Sports fever was really building in the country over the summer so it is not really surprising that, during the closing stages, the Paralympics proved just as popular as the Olympics as people wanted visit the capital to enjoy the amazing buzz and feel part of the event.

“The return of more corporate business at the end of the summer also helped to keep prices higher.”