2012 Summer Olympic Venues – Stay in a London Serviced Apartment through Serviced City Pads

The 2012 Summer Olympic games, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, are due to take place in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. Serviced City Pads have a large range of Serviced Apartments throughout London to accommodate visitors to the games. Please visit www.servicedcitypads.com or contact the reservations team on 0844 335 8866.

London was elected as the host city on July 6 2005 during the 117th IOC Session in Singapore, defeating Moscow, New York City, Madrid and Paris after four rounds of voting. The successful bid was headed by former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe. The Olympics prompted a redevelopment of many of the areas of London in which the games is to be held particularly themed towards sustainability while the budgetary considerations have generated some criticism.

The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will use a mixture of new venues, existing and historic facilities, and temporary facilities, some of them well known locations such as Hyde Park and Horse Guards Parade. In the wake of the problems that plagued the Millennium Dome, the organisers intention is that there will be no more white elephants after the Games and instead that a 2012 legacy will be delivered. Some of the new facilities will be reused and their Olympic form, while others, inlcuding the 80,000 seater main stadium, will be reduced in size and several will be relocated elesewhere in the UK. The plans are part of the regeneration of Stratford in east London which will be the site of the Olympic Park, and of the neighbouring Lower Lea Valley.

This has required the compulsory purchase of some business properties, which are being demolished to make way for the Olympic venues and infastructure improvements. This has caused some controversy, with some of the affected proprietors claiming the compensation offered is inadequate. In addition, concerns about the development’s potential impact on the future of the century-old Manor Garden Allotments have inspired a community campaign, and the demolistion of the Clays Lane housing estate was opposed by tenants.

The majority of the venues have been divided into three zones within Greater London: the Olympic Zone, the River Zone and the Central Zone. In addition to these are those venues that, by necessity, are outside the boundaries of Greater London, such as Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy on the Isle of Portland in Dorset ( whcih will host some of the sailing events ), Tring in Hertfordshire ( which will host the start of the 50k walk) and other stadia across the UK.

Public transport in aspect of the bid which scored poorly in the IOC’s initial evaluation, needs to see numerous improvments, including the expansion of the London’s Overground East London Line, upgrades to the Docklands Light Railway and the North London Line, and the new ‘Javelin’ high speed rail service using Hitachi ‘bullet’ trains.

They also plan to have 80% of athletes travel less than 20 minutes to their event. The Park will be served by 10 seperate railway lines with a combined capacity of 240,000 passengers per hour. Park and ride schemes also featured amongst the many plans aimed at reducing traffic levels during the games.

Serviced City Pads have a website listing many Serviced Apartments throughout London where visitors to the 2012 games can stay in apartments from 1 to 3 bedrooms. Please contact the reservations team on 0844 335 8866.