Staging the Olympic Equestrian Events, Hong Kong is at present the training base of choice for athletes from more than a dozen countries in various disciplines who have their sights set on Olympic glory in Beijing.

For the Dutch swimming team, Hong Kong is the perfect place to put the finishing touches to its Olympic preparations, according to Cees-Rein van den Hoogenband, the Royal Dutch Swimming Federation Chairman - and father of swimming sensation Pieter van den Hoogenband.

"The facilities are superb. The Gold Coast Hotel, where we are, is a very good hotel, very good meals and the accommodation is fantastic," Van den Hoogenband said in an interview with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government website. He added that the team's dietitian had discussed nutritional requirements for the athletes with the hotel.

"He made arrangements for special food. It is superb, more than 100 percent," he said.

Van den Hoogenband said the main reason for choosing Hong Kong for the pre-Olympic build-up was the comparable climatic conditions to Beijing and the high-quality training facilities.

"We have two pools where we can have our training sessions. One is here at the (Hong Kong) Institute of Education. They have good blocks. The other is at Lingnan University. They both have eight lanes which is sufficient for our team," he said.

The Dutch swimming team includes two-time Olympic champion Pieter van den Hoogenband and the female quartet of Inge Dekker, Femke Heemskerk, Ranomi Kromowidjojo and Marleen Veldhuis - which broke the 400-meter freestyle world record in March.

Their hotel is away from the city center overlooking the South China Sea, while one of their rivals in the pool, the Czech swimming team, is based at the Regal Kowloon Hotel in the heart of bustling Tsim Sha Tsui East.

Although the surroundings are different, the Czech Swimming Federation is also delighted with its pre-Olympic arrangements.

Technical director of the Czech Swimming Federation Jan Novotny said his swimmers had settled well in their temporary home.

"The facilities in Hong Kong are similar to the Czech Republic and we are satisfied with the pool, with the hotel, with the food, with everything," Novotny said.

"The time in Hong Kong is the same as Beijing and I think the weather in Hong Kong will be the same as in Beijing so we hope the swimmers will adapt to the conditions (at the Olympics)," he added.

While the Czech swimmers get a taste of Hong Kong's unique city life, the Dutch are happy to be surrounded by friends and build on their team spirit going into the Olympics.

"Our equestrian team is here and our football team is here, too. The equestrian team came to watch our guys training and to have dinner with us," Van den Hoogenband said.

"The whole team is grateful for the hospitality. We are proud to be here. We feel comfortable," said Hoogenband.