TargetTalk

Here I'm very interested.

RobinC correctly noted that there's essentially no slack left in London's public transport system at the best of time, and advised:

Just make sure you are paying the extortionate central london Hotel rates and can walk there other wise you will spend more time traveling that watching.

I lived in London for four years out near Canary Wharf in a new development next to the Blackwall DLR Station and not far from Poplar and the Isle of Dogs. This is almost five kilometers due south of the Olympic Stadium site. I doubt that there are very many hotels from which you can walk to the venues.

Truly Central London, say the Strand or Aldwych, is maybe 6 miles from the stadium. The Royal Artillery Barracks is a long schlep from central London. My own guess is that visitors should be looking for hotels in Stratford, Poplar or Canary Wharf for the Stadium complex, or Euston/St. Pancras taking the train. For shooting, maybe there'll be B&Bs near the RAB. Alternatively someplace along the DLR.

Wherever you stay, be prepared to part with lots of money every night.

peterz wrote:Wherever you stay, be prepared to part with lots of money every night.

That's not always the case. For Atlanta, I had bought my event tickets when they went on sale but work obligations cropped up and I was going to be unable to go. I figured I'd frame the tickets and have an interesting story.

Then, a couple of months before the Games, my work obligations disappeared. I still couldn't go. As had been the case for the previous 18 months, accommodations were priced in the stratosphere. I just couldn't afford it.

Then something odd happened. About a month before the start of the Games, everyone who still had overpriced rooms or houses to rent seemed to all panic at the same time. Prices dropped through the floor.

I made all my reservations about 2 to 3 weeks before the games and got completely normal, everyday prices for everything.

Yup. The value of a scalper's unsold ticket to the hottest show in town peaks a few hours before show time and drops to approximately zero at curtain time. There will surely be a lot of similar Olympic bargains in London in 2012, if you have tickets to the Games.

However, those rooms will still go for the standard London rates: High, Too High and Much Too High.

Just for guidance, on TV last night here in the UK there was a programme about scam accomodation websites in London. They look as good as the genuine ones, take the details from genuine estate agent sites, and they are doing a big trade now just on ordinary tourists, so beware for the Olympics, there will be many phoney accomodation websites.

The advise was to only use a credit card with a fraud refund deal, to check the address, and contact by phone and confirm its genuine.
Robin

peterz wrote: I lived in London for four years out near Canary Wharf in a new development next to the Blackwall DLR Station and not far from Poplar and the Isle of Dogs. This is almost five kilometers due south of the Olympic Stadium site. I doubt that there are very many hotels from which you can walk to the venues.

Truly Central London, say the Strand or Aldwych, is maybe 6 miles from the stadium. The Royal Artillery Barracks is a long schlep from central London. My own guess is that visitors should be looking for hotels in Stratford, Poplar or Canary Wharf for the Stadium complex, or Euston/St. Pancras taking the train. For shooting, maybe there'll be B&Bs near the RAB. Alternatively someplace along the DLR.

Wherever you stay, be prepared to part with lots of money every night.

For the preceeding world cup all the official accomodation venues are more than a short walk away, and it did make me chuckle looking at the quoted travel times from hotel to venue, optimistic outside of rush hour(s) !

Rob.

RobStubbs wrote:... optimistic outside of rush hour(s) !

Rob.

going by my experiences at Atlanta and Sydney the traffic management was one of the things that worked during Olympic Games. Transfer to/from the venue worked 'on time' for both Atlanta (Emery > Wolff Creek) and Sydney (home > Cecil Park - albeit with a magic sticker on the window)

Maybe most of the commuter traffic expected things to be so bad that they kept off the roads?

Spencer wrote:

RobStubbs wrote:... optimistic outside of rush hour(s) !

Rob.

going by my experiences at Atlanta and Sydney the traffic management was one of the things that worked during Olympic Games. Transfer to/from the venue worked 'on time' for both Atlanta (Emery > Wolff Creek) and Sydney (home > Cecil Park - albeit with a magic sticker on the window)

Maybe most of the commuter traffic expected things to be so bad that they kept off the roads?

Perhaps that'll be the case for the olympics itself and I guess the WC will be a good test - as I would assume they'll use the same set of accomodation. It will be a nightmare if they have to delay the start of events due to competitors 'stuck in traffic'.

Rob.

RobStubbs wrote:[Perhaps that'll be the case for the olympics itself and I guess the WC will be a good test - as I would assume they'll use the same set of accomodation.

No. For the Olympics the teams will be accomodated in the Village. For the WC they'll be in hotels.

And the paying Public? They will be the ones struggling to get there.

As for the regular commutors they will still be there, I think the travel logistics will be shall we say "interesting" especialy as the whole of London from the outer ring in was nearly at standstill recently just from people going into the London shops for the sales on a non working day!

RobinC wrote:...especialy as the whole of London from the outer ring in was nearly at standstill recently just from people going into the London shops for the sales on a non working day!

As someone who lives, works, shops etc within the M25 I can assure you that is total BS.

Nobody is suggesting that travel during the Olympics is not going to be challenging; the same as it is in every Summer Olympic venue.

As for the World Cup, London won't even notice the additional people. All of the official hotels will be within a few miles of the venue so the coach journey for the teams won't be any more difficult than at any other World Cup.

Here's my prediction.

Everyone will hem and haw until the Olympics starts, then it will go off fine just like every other Olympics * and in the end will be declared one of the best games ever (just like all those before it and those that will come after it).

In the end everyone will manage.

*less one Olympics that was marred

I was reminded about Atlanta, which I had totally forgot so I guess it's two.

Some also consider Berlin 36 as being marred as well.

All of the official hotels will be within a few miles of the venue so the coach journey for the teams won't be any more difficult than at any other World Cup.

Afraid it won't be David closest is about 4 miles, furthest is 9 1/2 miles away.

Rob.[/quote]

Richard H wrote:Here's my prediction.

Everyone will hem and haw until the Olympics starts, then it will go off fine just like every other Olympics * and in the end will be declared one of the best games ever (just like all those before it and those that will come after it).

In the end everyone will manage.

*less one Olympics that was marred

Which one was that?

- The promotion of Nazi ideology at the Berlin '36 Games
- Cancellation of the 1916; 1940 and 1944 Games due to World Wars 1&2
- The Black September/Israeli Delegation shootings at Munich '72
- Poor management but notably fraud leading to the Montreal '76 costs far exceeding the budget
- The bomb attack at Atlanta '96
- Western boycott of the Moscow '80 Games
- Soviet/Warsaw Pact boycott of the LA '84 Games
- Controversy and allegation of corruption amongst gymnastics judges at Athens '04

- Drug failures/controversies at more more or less any games you care to mention since Doping sadly became an issue (although there was a particular cloud over '88).

Just wondering like ;)


I concur however that there will almost certainly be controversy of one sort or another all the way up to the opening ceremony, then it'll run pretty smoothly, and then it'll finish. Just like most other Games. Along the way there will be smiles, tears, probably a couple of drugs failures and probably some controversy over scores or judging in one of the subjective sports, or equipment/calibration failures in an objective sport.

Checked booking.com... 28 July – 6 August 1 Person/1 Room 2000-4000 GBP.

Is it normal for London?


Hotel in Dartford area - a little bit cheaper... + about 50 GBP for week travelcard (Dartford - Woolwich Dockyard).

ruig wrote:Checked booking.com... 28 July – 6 August 1 Person/1 Room 2000-4000 GBP.

Is it normal for London?


Hotel in Dartford area - a little bit cheaper... + about 50 GBP for week travelcard (Dartford - Woolwich Dockyard).

No rates in or near London are going to be "normal" during the Olympics.

You might want to look at the Travelodge in Dartford. I just had a quick look and it seems to be 726GBP for that period, although they only have a few rooms left. It is very close to Stone Crossing Station. I think it would mean changing trains at Dartford to get to Woolwich Arsenal.

I presume you have got tickets or a pass to get you in.

Hemmers wrote:

Richard H wrote:Here's my prediction.

Everyone will hem and haw until the Olympics starts, then it will go off fine just like every other Olympics * and in the end will be declared one of the best games ever (just like all those before it and those that will come after it).

In the end everyone will manage.

*less one Olympics that was marred

Which one was that?

- The promotion of Nazi ideology at the Berlin '36 Games
- Cancellation of the 1916; 1940 and 1944 Games due to World Wars 1&2
- The Black September/Israeli Delegation shootings at Munich '72
- Poor management but notably fraud leading to the Montreal '76 costs far exceeding the budget
- The bomb attack at Atlanta '96
- Western boycott of the Moscow '80 Games
- Soviet/Warsaw Pact boycott of the LA '84 Games
- Controversy and allegation of corruption amongst gymnastics judges at Athens '04

- Drug failures/controversies at more more or less any games you care to mention since Doping sadly became an issue (although there was a particular cloud over '88).

Just wondering like ;)


I concur however that there will almost certainly be controversy of one sort or another all the way up to the opening ceremony, then it'll run pretty smoothly, and then it'll finish. Just like most other Games. Along the way there will be smiles, tears, probably a couple of drugs failures and probably some controversy over scores or judging in one of the subjective sports, or equipment/calibration failures in an objective sport.

Well Hemmers I guess I'm not as pessimistic.
I don't hold the games themselves responsible for the actions of individual athletes, nor do I hold them responsible for the politics of the day, nor the corruption of the organizations that are involved. I guess I have the ability to actually separate the actual games from the circus that it has become. I tend to look at the actual purpose of the games and measure it according to those ideals. My reference was to the games themselves, I had hoped that would be obvious.

David Levene wrote:...
I presume you have got tickets or a pass to get you in.

Thank you, David.

I tried to imagine total budget for one person in spectator role... and I don't like these numbers :-)

May be next time...

ruig wrote:I tried to imagine total budget for one person in spectator role... and I don't like these numbers :-)

Accommodation costs are the least of a spectator's problems.

Without venue tickets, which are as rare as rocking horse droppings, you'd be left watching the events on one of the large screens being set up in public areas (I understand there will be one in the centre of Woolwich).

David Levene wrote:

ruig wrote:I tried to imagine total budget for one person in spectator role... and I don't like these numbers :-)

Accommodation costs are the least of a spectator's problems.

Without venue tickets, which are as rare as rocking horse droppings, you'd be left watching the events on one of the large screens being set up in public areas (I understand there will be one in the centre of Woolwich).

I did want to go and see the shooting events myself, but apart from not being able to get tickets, and as the shooting takes place I believe in the morning which would mean a previous nights stay in london, I decided that it would be too expensive.

So I will be watching it on the Goggle Box.

Does anyone know if all the shooting events will be televised.