Inside the luxury Olympic Village where only a handful of Aussie athletes get to stay.

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The 2024 Paris Olympic Games are about to begin, with top-tier athletes from 206 territories arriving in the city of lights ahead of the opening ceremony on July 26. 

Along with wanting to know about the athletes' training regimens and lives outside of sport, people are eager to catch a glimpse of the Olympic Village where our Aussie team will reside. Thanks to the era of TikTok athletes, we know exactly what it's like for Aussies in the Olympic Village this year and, spoiler alert, they're not loving it.

However, there are a handful of lucky athletes who will be living it up in a luxury French Château and an even luckier few who will be cruising around sunny Tahiti. Let's get into it.

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The first 'floating Olympic Village' in Tahiti.

Paris may be hosting the 2024 Olympic Games, but the Seine isn't exactly equipped to host a surfing competition. Instead, Surfers will compete in the village of Teahupo'o, on the southwestern coast of the French Polynesian island of Tahiti.

The athletes and their teams will live together on-board the Aranui 5 cruise ship for the event, which boasts a sky bar, dancing room, a library, fitness room and spa.

Unlike their Olympic counterparts in Paris, who are sleeping in shared rooms, the 48 surfers will each have their own rooms on the ship. With comfortable beds to boot.

The Aranui 5 is hosting Olympic Surfers in Tahiti. Image: Instagram/@camilla_kemp

The rooms on the cruise ship are far grander than those in the Olympic Village. Image: Aranui.

The floating Olympic Village is a stunning sight to see. Image: TikTok/Tim Elter.

Inside the luxury Olympic accommodation, Château de Guermantes.

While everyone else sleeps on cardboard "anti-sex" beds in the Paris Olympic Village, the canoeing, rowing and kayaking teams are living like royalty.

Because their events are being held at the Vaires-sur-Marine Nautical Stadium on the city's western outskirts, almost 40km away from the village, these teams are being housed at the Château de Guermantes.

Aussie favourite Jess Fox shared a glimpse of the luxury accommodation on her Instagram as she checked in.

"We're not in the village this time, but rowing and canoeing are based out here and the set-up is absolutely incredible," she said in the Instagram video. "We walked into our rooms to see the Paris doona and all our Australian Olympic goodies... this is incredible."

According to the Château's website, the charming 17th century building is made up of 112 bedrooms and features a great hall inspired by the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles.

Some lucky athletes will be living in luxury at Chateau de Guermantes. Image: Instagram/@jessfox

Team Aus take on the luxury life in France. Image: Instagram/@tararigneyy

The athletes have been sharing some stunning snaps from the chateau. Image: Instagram/@paige_barr.

We know where we'd rather be staying.  Image: Instagram/@tararigneyy.

Inside the Australian Camp at the Paris Olympic Village.

The rest of Team Australia are living in the Paris Olympic Village. Their section of the village features a custom coffee station for the athletes called BK Coffee, plus spaces to eat from the "Woolworths fridge" and recuperate in the "Harvey Norman lounge space." There is also a recovery gym and spa.

Keen to see inside the rooms at the Olympic Village? Luckily, the athletes are officially allowed to post on social media this year, and they've already started showing off their new digs.

A street view of the Paris Olympic Village before the games. Image: Getty.

Some apartments appear to be one or two-bed studios, while there are some larger apartments with multiple bedrooms and a small living room to share. There are two athletes living in most bedrooms, and some come complete with balconies.

The infamous cardboard beds have also been spotted, with each athlete given a single bed in which to sleep (more on that in a moment). There is also a bedside table and a clothing rack with shelves for storing personal items.

For the Aussie athletes, rooms also come complete with an official uniform bag and Kangaroo mascot, with 600 bags shipped over ahead of the opening ceremony.

The Australian Olympic Team shared the first photos of the village last Friday. Image: Instagram/@ausolympicteam.

The bedrooms are simple, with a cardboard bed frame, foam mattress, bedside table and clothes rack for each athlete. Image: Getty.

Some of the apartments have a simple living room, for athletes sharing spaces. Image: Getty.

As mentioned, each athlete has a single bed made from cardboard, with cutouts underneath for bag storage. The mattresses appear to be made from a styrofoam-like material, covered in a fabric sleeve.

Aussie tennis star Daria Saville revealed in a video that the mattresses can be flipped around for a firm, moderate, or soft option, depending on the athlete's preference. For taller athletes, there's also an extended option.

Water polo player Tilly Kearns posted a video on Instagram after her first night in the village, and it seems the soft side of the mattress leaves much to be desired.

"It's actually rock solid," Tilly said in the video. "Apparently there's a softer side... but that was the softer side."

"My back is about to fall off," her roommate Abby Andrews said in the video.

The comments were filled with confused fans, who couldn't comprehend how the athletes will be in their best shape for the Olympics if this is the sleeping set up.

"Imagine being the best athlete in the world and you're given a mattress that looks like a scrub daddy," one wrote in the comments.

"Is this the Olympic Games or the Hunger Games… seriously how do they expect elite athletes to achieve peak performance while sleeping on beds worse than you'd find in a backpackers?" another wrote.

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Following her first video, Tilly followed up with a post to announce that the Team Manager has bought them mattress toppers and a second pillow. 

"I'm so grateful because I was waking up every second hour, I actually thought about going on the floor," she said.

But the beds haven't been the only concern since the first look images of the Olympic Village dropped. 

Social media commenters have been wondering how the athletes will keep cool in the summer heat. Why? Well, because the organisers of the Paris Games decided against installing air conditioning in the Olympic Village, in order to make the event more environmentally friendly. Instead, they installed a system of cooling pipes under the floors.

But Australia is among a few nations, including the US, who forked out additional funds to kit the athletes' rooms with portable air con. Saville included the unit in her room tour, giggling as she showed off the "exclusive" item.

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A post shared by Daria Saville (@daria_sav)

Where is the Paris Olympic Village?

The Olympic Village spans across Saint-Denis, Saint Ouen and L'Île-Saint-Denis. Within the makeup of the village, there are 2,500 new homes, one student residence, one hotel, landscaped parks, gardens, offices and neighbourhood shops.

According to the IOC, it will house 14,250 people for the Olympics and 8,000 people for the Paralympics.

Aussie athletes take on the Paris Olympic Village. Image: Instagram/@ausolympicteam.

Following the 2024 games, the area will be transformed into a new neighbourhood for Parisians.

"After the Games, the operators will start repurposing the Village's residential units in November 2024. They will hand over a new, eco-responsible, functional neighbourhood, which will blend into the city of the future in 2025," the IOC confirmed.

What is in the Paris Olympic Village?

The Olympic Village is brimming with unique experiences for the athletes to enjoy, along with all the usual amenities. 

A bakery set up at the entrance to the village will churn out more than 2,000 baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolat and focaccia daily. According to the New York Times they will even offer baking classes for athletes seeking respite from the games.

The village includes six restaurants, a dining hall, training grounds, 24-hour fitness centre, polyclinic, prayer rooms and an anti-doping centre.

The dining hall seats 3,500 people and is expected to serve 40,000 meals daily. The menu will change every eight days and will meet the dietary requirements of all the athletes and staff. 

There is also a "club" for the athletes to kick back in the Olympic Village. 

While there are rules around drinking in the Paris Olympic Village, the athletes do have the chance to blow off steam in the relaxing area, which features an outdoor space with a DJ booth, tables, beanbag chairs, and non-alcoholic drinks.

Daria Saville and Ellen Perez shared a glimpse of the Olympic Village club. Instagram/@daria_sav.

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This article was originally published on July 23, 2024, and has since been updated.