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Hotels look set for Olympic boom

LONDON hotel growth is set to boom in the years leading up to the 2012 Olympic Games in the capital.

Growth is forecast to match levels experienced during the boom years of the late 1990s, said the Visit London organisation.

From now to 2010, almost 10,900 rooms are likely to come on stream with a further 9,000 awaiting confirmation of completion dates.

Around 1,600 rooms are likely to open during 2006, including two new Hilton hotels, and a hotel next to the Theatre Royal in the Haymarket in the West End.

This year will also see the arrival of a new budget hotel chain - Quest - as well as more Travelodges in High Holborn and in Feltham, west London.

Visit London chief executive James Bidwell, said: "This growth in hotel development is excellent news and keeps in line with the targets set in London Mayor Ken Livingstone's London Plan.

"Winning the right to host the 2012 Olympic Games may well have a transformational effect and ensure a lasting legacy for the hotel industry."