Some athletes check out early from Paris Olympic Village

July 30 (UPI) -- While the Olympic Village offers athletes from around the world a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet and socialize, some Olympians in Paris have chosen to leave early, complaining of crowded quarters, cardboard beds and long commutes to competition venues.

The housing villages at most Games are known for spartan accommodations and college dormitory-like atmosphere, but a handful of athletes in Paris have reportedly been caught off-guard by the conditions and are opting for hotels instead.

U.S. tennis star Coco Gauff gave fans a peek behind the scenes in a TikTok video captioned "10 girls, two bathrooms," set to a horror-scream soundtrack.

One commenter suggested going to a hotel, and Gauff replied: "All the tennis girls moved to a hotel except me. so now just 5 girls two bathrooms."

She added that the remaining roommates are "very chill."

Another commenter asked about the village's infamous cardboard beds , which were first introduced at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as an environmentally sustainable solution for temporarily housing tens of thousands of athletes and officials.

While British diver Tom Daley demonstrated how sturdy the beds are, others have noted that they offer a less-than-luxurious sleeping experience.

Australian water polo star Tilly Kearns called the beds "rock solid" in an Instagram post, and commented: "Already had a massage to undo the damage."

For her part, Gauff said that she was able to borrow a mattress topper from the archery team.

Six members of South Korea's swim team also moved out of the village on Saturday, news agency Yonhap reported , citing difficulties in getting to their competition site.

Chong Chang-hoon, president of the Korea Swimming Federation, told reporters that the swimmers preparing for the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay would move into a hotel within walking distance of the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre.

The decision was made after swimmers had complained that the bus used to travel to the arena had no air conditioning, with one calling it like "a sauna."

"It's cooler outside than inside the bus," swimmer Hwang Sun-woo said. "It usually takes about 40 to 45 minutes from the village to the arena, but it took us more than an hour and a half today. Windows were taped probably because they are worried about terrorist attacks. But something has to be done."

The Paris organizers have worked to reduce the Games' environmental footprint through measures such as limiting air-conditioning use, pledging to halve carbon emissions compared to London 2012 and Rio 2016.

The Korean table tennis federation also took matters into its own hands, securing a private shuttle bus for its Olympic contingent and renting hotel rooms near the competition arena so its athletes could rest between matches and practice sessions.

Still, most of the 10,500 athletes competing at Paris 2024 are deciding to stick it out in the Olympic Village despite the inconveniences.

"I chose to stay in the village for the experience," Gauff said in a comment on another user's TikTok video.

Legendary U.S. gymnast Simone Biles is also staying put. "The bed sucks ... BUT we are getting mattress toppers, so hopefully it'll get better," she said in her own comment on the video.