It’s already less than a year till the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and London hotels are very optimistic about it and about the money they plan to gather. The Daily Telegraph already published rates for July 27 - August 12 2012 and compared them to current hotel rates.
If you plan to stay in Sheraton Park Tower hotel in Knightsbridge today, you will need to pay £209 per night (US$341). The same room during summer Olympics will cost you £605 (US$988). One night in W Hotel in London located on Leicester Square costs £290 (US$473) this month. In August 2012 it will cost £540 (US$882). Berjaya Hotel features even bigger difference – at the moment its rooms are offered for £89 and £199 (US$145 and US$325). During Olympics the same room will cost you “modest” £999 (US$1,632) per night.
Will these rates stay unchanged till the Olympics and will hotels in London really make good money from such raise?
The overpricing of rooms is a brave step thinks Tom Jenkins, the chief executive of ETOA (European Tour Operators Association). In 2004 Athens was hosting Summer Olympics. During the event hotels in Athens have sold approximately 15,000 rooms. The number of hotel rooms in London reaches 125,000 and that’s a big number. According to Jenkins, such expensive rates can also harm the status of the city, and next summer London hotels will not be among popular vacation destinations.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson has already given an order to identify and mark companies that “trade fairly”. At the moment this list includes 40 companies and none of them are hotels.
The Telegraph has also asked hoteliers to make comments about their rates. Starwood (operates W London and Sheraton Park Tower) has replied that such increased rates are usual for high-demand periods.