Cheaper – and more unusual hotels – are on the way in London as the capital gears up for the 2012 Olympics.

Bright, multicoloured cube-shaped buildings, lime-green 1960s-style retro retreats, giant super-budget hotels in the West End, shiny tower blocks by the Thames, and adaptations of famous London buildings such as the Gillette Corner factory in Isleworth, West London, and the Tro-cadero in Piccadilly are all due to be completed during the next five years.

Latest VisitLondon figures show that 20,000 new rooms are expected by 2012, with more hotel projects currently underway than in the whole of Spain. Within Europe, the closest city to match the capital is Moscow, with just a fifth of the number of rooms opening.

Peter Murray of New London Architecture, a group highlighting the growth in an exhibition that opened this week in London, said prices are likely to fall: “So many budget hotels are moving in to city centre locations – people are so used to cheap flights, they want cheap places to stay.”

Some of these include Sleeperz, a multicoloured cube opening at Waterloo, a huge 600-room Ibis in the Trocadero, more easyHotels and YOTELs (with capsule-style rooms), as well as Travelodges and Premier Inns.

Amanda Afiya, deputy editor of Caterer and Hotelkeeper, said there is a chance that hotel prices could take a downturn after the Olympics as there will be so many new rooms.

Upmarket up-and-coming hotels include the Shangri-La planned for the tower block “Shard of Glass”, a five-star Jumeirah hotel within a 51-storey tower on Blackfriars Road, and a Renaissance hotel at St Pancras.

However, TRI Hospitality Consulting believes rooms in the capital – which were an average £93.58 a night last year – are likely to hold firm. “There is always extremely high demand in London,” said Ben Walker, research manager.

Details: New London Architecture (020-7636 4044, www.newlondonarchitecture.org), The Building Centre, 26 Store Street, London WC1; open until October 27 Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-5pm, admission free.

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