WASHINGTON — Heading to the nation’s capital to be part of history Jan. 20? Good luck finding a room.
You could ante up $40,000 for a four-night stay at a fancy hotel or crash on someone’s couch or floor. Anything in between is just about gone for Barack Obama’s inauguration.
With hotels nearly booked up, lots of out-of-towners are suddenly deciding it’s time to pay a visit to friends or relatives here. Others are more imaginative.
“Your apartment in Washington, D.C., for a week … for my apartment in Beverly Hills, CA,” says one ad on Craigslist. “It’s nothing large, just a smallish 1 bedroom, but it’s smack dab in 90210!”
“With this being such a historical event, people are truly making the most out of it,” said Doug Camp, marketing director at the sold-out Hay-Adams Hotel on Lafayette Square across from the White House. “It’s almost like another millennium experience.”
Already, there is a waiting list at the Willard InterContinental Hotel, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. finished writing his “I Have a Dream” speech. Guests are paying a minimum of $949 a night, with a four-night stay required, spokeswoman Barbara Bahny David said.
“About 10 minutes after 11 on election night, we had a flurry of calls,” she said.
Most rooms at the hotel, located along the inaugural parade route, were booked months ago.
Also gone: the 221 rooms at the Four Seasons in Georgetown, including a royal suite that costs $15,000 a night.
So, too, are rooms at more modestly priced hotels, such as the Quality Inn on New York Avenue in northeast Washington.
“There’s a lot more interest this early than previous inaugurations,” said William Hanbury, president of Destination DC, the city’s tourism bureau.
He said those serious about coming need to wrap up their plans in the next two weeks.
There are 29,000 hotel rooms in Washington, D.C., and about 95,000 across the region, according to Destination DC. Many hotels are requiring a minimum three- to four-night stay. Other properties report setting aside their remaining rooms for VIPs and repeat customers.
“Unless you’re lucky, or have a lot of money to spend, you might not get to be involved,” said Stephanie Holloway, vice president of the Capital City Young Democrats in Austin, Texas.
