Hotel room rates rocket

London hotel prices are soaring even before the Olympics, according to a study.

Average room prices at London hotels in February 2012 were £132.54, a 6.58 per cent increase on the February 2011 figure, hotel.info said.

Among other European capitals surveyed, only Moscow (£153.61) and Oslo (£134.63) had more expensive room rates than London.

The February 2012 figure for London was also much higher than the average room rate in the UK capital in January 2012, which was £119.72.

The best bargains among the ten European capitals featured in the study were in Warsaw, with rooms in the Polish capital averaging only £74.17 in February 2012.

Worldwide, the most expensive average room rates in February this year were in Sydney, where the price of £159.60 was nearly 19 per cent up on February 2011.