By: Julie Kerknievan

You Can Find the Best Olympics Hotels and Packages Online
Anytime there is a major events like the Olympics or Super Bowl, finding accommodations can be a challenge. Most of these types of events can be booked out years in advance and finding an Olympic hotel can seem near impossible. Calling the local hotels directly won’t help as a lot of them have the rooms reserved in advance as part of Olympics packages that are sold either by them or by an online broker. The best chance you have for Olympic hotels is to do a little surfing online to find one.
There are Plenty of Olympic Hotels and Accommodations Available
Travel companies will normally book out hotel rooms near major sporting events like the Olympics years in advance. They will then assemble a package for customers that usually include the necessary airfare to the location, transportation to the event, Olympic hotel rooms for the duration of the stay, and tickets to the event. These Olympic packages are usually a good value when you consider all of the individual costs involved. Buying one of these Olympic packages can save you quite a lot of money over trying to book all of these things yourself.
Even if you could find tickets to the event, finding an Olympic hotel can prove to be a real challenge. That is because fans of the Olympics know years in advance where the games are going to be held and quickly snap up available Olympic hotel rooms in the area in anticipation of the games. These fans then hold the rooms in the hopes that they will be able to find tickets to the events and can attend. If they can’t find tickets, or change their plans on travel, they can always sell the Olympics hotels rooms to someone else at a profit.
Another group that purchases large blocks of the Olympics hotels is specialty travel websites who then organize a trip around the event. They will sell you a complete package to the event, or even just the room if you want to organize everything else yourself. They will usually charge a fee in addition to the price of the room and the closer you get to the event, the higher this fee will be. This is a simple case of supply and demand and the more scarce rooms become, the higher their price. If you book early enough, you might get lucky and find some reasonably priced Olympic hotel accommodations.
There are even specialty websites that will help you sell your Olympic hotel rooms if you no longer need them. These sites act as a broker for the Olympic Hotel rooms and will connect you with someone looking to purchase them. This type of transaction can be quite profitable for both you and the broker since the closer you get to the event, the more impossible it is to find hotel Olympics packages and rooms.
In addition to online brokers, you could try calling the hotels directly. Some of them will hold rooms for members of their frequent guest programs and if you join one of these programs it may help you to find the perfect Olympic hotel room. Usually these rooms are not advertised on the hotel website and you have to ask specifically for a room under the program, but this can be another way for you to find a few Olympics hotels that might be able to accommodate you for the event. Some of these hotels even offer full Olympics packages and can help you find tickets to events and ground transportation. When you inquire about these types of Olympics packages, you will be spending lots of your time and most likely will not succeed due to high demand but be sure to call the hotel directly and not use their website. Also, if you try to call the hotel, be sure to speak to the consigner directly as they may have deals that are specific to that hotel and not advertised.
In addition to the Olympics Hotels and packages offered online at a specialty broker website, they may have packages available for other big sporting events throughout the year. They will offer packages for the Super Bowl, The Final Four basketball, horse racing events like the Kentucky Derby, World Series tickets, Ryder Cup, Masters golfing and other large events. The handy thing about using a broker for obtaining lodging and tickets to these events is that they can usually coordinate everything you need for the event at a great price. You might be able to find all of the elements of a package a specialty site offers in one of their packages on you own, but it would be hard to beat their package price.
The thing to remember about using an online service like this is that the nearer you get to the date of the event, the higher priced the packages become. This is because as the event approaches, the more scarce tickets to the event become. If you know you are going to be interested in attending an event, try to book the date through one of these brokers as early as possible. Even if you change your mind later, you can still sell the package yourself to someone else and even have these brokers sell it for you. This assures you that you will have the flexibility to back out of tickets for an event that might still be a year away and not lose money. Some of these online brokers will even let you sell lodging you bought elsewhere on their sites as well and charge you a broker fee to do this. Selling lodging you have secured or tickets you have bought through an online broker will give you the ability to command a higher price for them as well because they will be seen by potential buyers worldwide.
So if you are shopping for Olympics Hotels and packages, be sure to check with these online brokers. They have a wide selection of Olympics hotels and packages to choose from and can accommodate most requests for lodging and tickets to the event. They will save you a lot of time and money and make your trip one to remember for years to come.

Article Source: http://articles-mart.com

For more information on how to secure the best hotels for the 2010 Olympics, visit www.best2010hotels.com/.

close by, visiting Austria on a skiing vacation could not get any easier, or more action-packed. The terrain is varied, and offers excellent opportunities for new skiers, experienced skiers and even snowboarding - that is on-the-up in this region. With 2 mountains, and a top of the range ski lift, skiers have no problems getting from A to B on the 30 000 feet slope. With views looking over the snowy hills and farmland, it is no wonder the area is a thriving hub for tourists, from around the world.

The terrain is varied, as well as the gradients that offer great opportunities for high speed, high octane acceleration, and lesser gradients that assist the new skiers in homing in their skills, 30 000 feet high in the St Anton mountains. St Anton does not have the tradition or acclaim that its neighbour Solden has managed to gain, however many from around the world still choose St Anton as their preference for an international skiing vacation. The reasons for this are simple – its appeals to a different skiing niche. Whilst Solden has hosted many world renowned skiing occasions, it has became too commercialised for some skiers who claim the facility has became to simple, and almost too forgiving on certain slopes.

With 8 runs and rising, St Anton has failed to give into pressure from around the world, for man-made slaloms, and safety alterations on runs. When you are skiing on certain sloped in St Anton, you have to have your wits about you, or something dangerous could easily happen. The facility has also gained much acclaim from adrenaline junkies in the snowboarding field, who rank St Anton as being one of the best facilities in the world. St Anton’s rise in snowboarding also came as it followed the new trend of offering night-time, freestyle snowboarding under flood lights and fireworks. This is becoming the new trend in snowboarding, and what better place to do it, than at St Anton.

During my trip to St Anton to check-it-out I found that the hotels around the area were brilliant, making it no problem for English speaking holiday makers to enjoy themselves. I stayed at a luxury 5 star hotel that had an indoor heated swimming pool. The swimming pool peaked out onto the top of a snowy mountain as you bathed in 40 degrees water.

I would have to say that the general feeling around the area is amazing, as you sense the genuine desire for skiing shared by everyone who goes along and takes part. Before I went I had never been skiing before, and I found the tuition excellent. They had multi-lingual skiing instructors on hand to try and aid any new skiers visiting the slopes. I was also taken to a specific slope that was built for new-starts, which also has an easy access point to a lift - perfect for picking that up as well.

The area is amazing to look at, and also offers great entertainment for the non-skier, or skier on a night-off! With clubs, pubs and shops all their to service the slopes, it is no wonder that the skiing facility has three 5 star hotels positioned next to the slopes. With all night entertainment within the hotels, and all-night snowboarding it really is impossible to get a minutes rest in St Anton.  Should you visit it is said that the conditions are best around August, however that’s in the peak of the skiing season, making it impossible to get moving around the slopes. In order to benefit from the best conditions, whilst the slopes are quieter I would say November is the best time. You are also more likely to get discounts from your travel agent at this time.

Eurosport - Tue, 10 Feb 08:42:00 2009

Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal held his nerve to master a treacherous slalom course and win the super-combined gold medal at the World Championships.

Svindal posted the fastest time in the downhill section and managed to reach the bottom of a slalom run in which many favourites stumbled to clock a combined winning time of two minutes 23 seconds.

France’s Julien Lizeroux, in 22nd position after the downhill, thrilled the home fans with a remarkable comeback, clocking the best slalom time to win silver 0.90 seconds back.

Croatia’s Natko Zrncic-Dim took the bronze, 1.58 seconds behind the winner, after a tricky slalom staged under floodlights with snow falling hard on this French Alps resort.

The 26-year-old Svindal, who won bronze in the super-G here last week, crowned a sparkling comeback after being seriously injured in a downhill crash at Beaver Creek in December 2007.

The Norwegian all-rounder stunned the skiing world by winning a downhill and a super-G on the same Beaver Creek piste a year after his accident but had not expected to do so well.

“I came here to progressively get back to my best level but I really wasn’t thinking about winning a title,” he said.

“It was tough because Lizeroux put a lot of pressure on me with a sensational slalom run.”

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STE. ADELE, Que. — If a champion is defined in part by a thirst for rewarding experiences away from the competition, Jenn Heil fits the bill.

The reigning Olympic freestyle skiing moguls champion spent most of last year away from international competition to rehabilitate an injury and reconstruct her skiing technique. But she also took advantage of an opportunity to travel to West Africa in support of equal rights for young girls.

The journey for the 25-year-old Spruce Grove, Alta., native, who now calls Montreal home, was with Plan Canada and its Because I’m a Girl campaign. It took Heil to a remote desert village in Burkina Faso, one of the poorest countries in the world. The majority of the population there lives in tiny adobe houses and spends most of the day tending to crops, for which they travel great distances to find the water needed to grow them.

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Transport chaos hit London as children built snowmen in gardens, schools were closed and postal workers skied down high streets during the British capital’s biggest snowfall in decades.

The usual noise of peak-hour traffic and the hum of the city succumbed to a magical quiet as the British capital disappeared under a mantle of pristine powdery snow and airports were closed and train and bus services were halted.

Huge tracts of Britain slowed down but London was the hardest hit as the snow kept falling. A total of 30 centimetres was expected in the next 24 hours.

Most flights at London’s Heathrow airport were grounded after one jet slid off a taxiway.

A Cyprus Airways plane with 104 passengers came off the icy taxiway at Heathrow, the world’s busiest international airport, airport operator BAA said. No injuries were reported.

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London Snow February 2009 video

Canada’s greatest male cross country skier and his son, who could be the next, are both auditioning for a place in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Pierre Harvey, 51, is just like his son Alex, 20, one of the rising young stars on the international nordic scene. Neither Harvey is guaranteed a place in the Whistler Games next February, however, though Alex’s performance this weekend against the world’s elite in only the fourth World Cup cross country ski event ever staged in Canada could move him closer to that goal.

Pierre is trying to make a return trip to Whistler as a stadium announcer. VANOC, the organizing committee, invited him to to do French language commentary at the pre-Olympic test events for cross country and nordic combined this weekend in the Callaghan Valley. If he passes the test, he’ll be back next year.

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MOUNT VERNON — Knox County was quickly blanketed with snow Wednesday, resulting in early school dismissals and slow-moving traffic throughout the area.
Knox County Sheriff David Barber issued a Level 2 snow emergency at 2:35 p.m. Wednesday. A Level 2, according to Barber’s press release, means “roadways are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. Only those who feel it is necessary to drive should be out on the roadways.”
Road crews worked throughout the night to keep city and county roads safe.
Mount Vernon streets are “snow covered but passable,” Dave Carpenter, Mount Vernon Streets Department superintendent, said this morning. Although only three trucks are currently operable, Carpenter hopes to have six trucks out today.
“We normally have seven trucks out,” he said. “We are just facing routine issues that we have when we are out plowing snow, things like a transmission leak.”
Despite the shortage of plow trucks, crews were able to take care of the first priority streets, such as the main roads and streets with hills. With that accomplished, Carpenter said crews will start work today on the secondary or residential streets.
“Streets aren’t going to be cleared today, maybe not until tomorrow. It will take some sun on them to get down to bare streets,” Carpenter said. “We have some that are bare now, but not much.”
With temperatures well below freezing, traditional road salt does nothing to clear the streets of snow and ice.
Carpenter said the city is using a 50-50 mixture of salt and No. 9 gravel, which is small, pea-like gravel, on areas where necessary. The application will help with traction and will melt snow and ice once temperatures start to rebound and the sun shines.
The public is reminded that Mount Vernon has several streets that are deemed snow streets. When snow exceeds 3 inches, parking on these roads is prohibited allowing road crews the opportunity to clean from curb to curb.
“If [cars] aren’t moved, we just plow around them,” Carpenter said. “They get plowed in and that makes it pretty difficult to get the car out.”
Kate Stickle, public information officer for the Ohio Department of Transportation’s District 5, said 11 crews were out since 4 p.m. Wednesday, and will continue to work around the clock.

More information here

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — Isabel Clark, a Brazilian female snowboarder, began her quest on Sunday for a spot on the Brazilian Olympic team for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada.

In order to qualify for the Games, Clark will have to place among the top 25 in the world by January 15, 2010.

If last season was any indication of what to expect, she will again win the chance to represent Brazil in Vancouver. Her first Winter Games appearance was in 2006 at Turin, Italy.

In 2008, she was ranked 18th worldwide. In the first event of the 2009 season worth points towards the year’s new ranking, the athlete placed 17th. The first stage of the World Cup of snowboarding held in Bad Gastein, Germany.

“Isabel has all the talent necessary to return to the Games and try to better her Olympic results won in Turin-2006. Today, she is widely recognized and respected throughout the world, attracting more attention to Brazil’s snowboarders in general,” said Stefano Arnhold, president of the Brazilian Confederation of Snow Sport.

Source

Harsh news for Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic fans: If you don’t have a ticket confirmation by the end of today, odds are you’ll be dealing with a scalper.

The 2010 Olympics, even though they’re more than 13 months away, are all but sold out.

Thousands of would-be U.S. ticket buyers hoping to attend the Feb. 12-28, 2010 Games were notified about the success of their ticket requests this week by CoSport, the exclusive U.S. ticket agency. And for most, the news wasn’t good.

Some would-be fans who contacted The Times said they requested thousands of dollars’ worth of tickets — up to the maximum number of 48 per person — only to be notified they’re being issued only a few. And the vast majority of fans who requested tickets only for a single, favorite event apparently were shut out.

“The lottery for USA tickets to the Olympics was a huge joke,” one disgruntled fan from Oregon wrote on Olympics Insider, The Times’ Olympics blog.

The reader said his family, which has a time share in Whistler and planned to attend the Games, requested 96 tickets for a multitude of events and received only seven.

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Snow has blanketed parts of the US states of Louisiana and Mississippi, causing disruption and leaving thousands without power.

Up to eight inches of snow were reported in some areas, blocking roads and forcing offices to close.

In Mississippi some schools were shut, and forecasters warned of treacherous driving conditions.

The north-east of the country was also hit by winter weather, with a state of emergency in place in two states.

The snow in the Louisiana city of New Orleans was its first in more than four years.

It caused considerable excitement, with office workers taking to the streets to watch and photograph the snow.

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