London’s landlords, property agents and hoteliers had great expectations for the prices they might fetch from Olympic spectators, officials and organisers streaming into the city for the 2012 games. But as the torch relay reaches its final leg, the resounding sentiment is that the pre-game hype was just that.

The result is that while many central London hotels are fully booked for the opening and closing ceremonies, there are still vacancies in the intervening days, hoteliers say.