A Room in Washington, DC for Barack Obama’s Inauguration - Ten Ways to Find a Place to Stay
This week I checked the several of the travel websites, such as Expedia for hotels on the night before (or week of) the historic inauguration of President Elect Barack Obama.
If you are planning on attending the inauguration from out of town, start your planning now. In fact, start planning two weeks ago, because most, if not all of the 95,000 area hotel rooms are already booked. And expect to look hard for alternatives. An estimated million and a half people are currently expected to attend what may be one of the largest events, and the largest inauguration, on the Mall National in Washington DC’s history.
The last inauguration, in 2005, drew 300,000 for President Bush’s second inauguration. President Lyndon Johnson’s inauguration drew the largest inauguration crowd, around 1 million people watched the ceremony at the Capital.
After checking over 450 area hotels, none were accepting online reservations. Some hotels were already sold out, others had multi-day (4 or 5 nights) stays required, while others required calls directly to the hotel. A travel representative mentioned area hotels, normally in the under $200 range, had increased hotel room prices to double or more for the inauguration.
I also checked for available hotel rooms in the Baltimore area and found nothing available. But I did find a few rooms available in Richmond, Virginia, about 100 miles from Washington, DC. some rooms were still under $125 and even a Days Inn offered a room for just $60. But I suspect these rates will soon jump as well.
Here’s ten ways to try to find an alternative place to stay for the inauguration:
- Call around to hotels not generally frequented by tourists, such as conference centers in in the suburbs.
- Check out temporary housing on home, condo and time share vacation rentals sites, but beware, prices for inauguration week have skyrocketed.
- Look for ads in the Washington Post and Examiner.com housing section (print and online) for short term rentals for inauguration week.
- Check Craigslist (temporary housing section) in Washington, DC and the surrounding suburbs for people renting homes or rooms during inauguration week. I found several hundred ads, ranging from someone’s basement bedroom in the suburbs, to a beautifully furnished 3-bedroom high-rise condo just blocks from the National Mall for $12,000 for the week. Make sure to look for convenient Metro access and parking.
- Check DC Message Boards for rooms available for the inauguration.
- Rent a motor home for a few days. If none are available in DC, look in the surrounding areas and drive it to DC for the inauguration.
- Search out that long lost school friend who lives in Washington, DC on Classmates.com
- Get on the phone and search out some of the smaller suburban motels, that may not have websites.
- Find friends who are going to the inauguration and try to crash with them, on the sofa, a roll-away, or on the floor.
- Make an offer to stay in The DC Traveler’s guest room…all bids will be entertained. Plus, an Inauguration Continental Breakfast is included!!
You can still request inauguration tickets, but it’s probably too late to make the cut. Visit your Congressional Representative’s website at http://www.house.gov/.
Image - Wikipedia - public domain
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10 opinions for A Room in Washington, DC for Barack Obama’s Inauguration - Ten Ways to Find a Place to Stay
Christine Gilbert
Nov 15, 2008 at 9:49 am
Jon,
RE: #10, I bet you will get some interesting offers! Should we start the bidding? :)
iWalk
Nov 16, 2008 at 12:40 am
Very useful and timely tips!
I think maybe some people still can’t find a place to stay during such a special time, But maybe they’d glad to stay on street as Mac Fans waiting for the new iPhones!
Jon
Nov 18, 2008 at 12:54 am
Hopefully DC won’t have a million people sleeping in the streets, the National Mall, the parks and Metro stations, the night before the inauguration.
Besides, January in DC is a bit cold.
Tami
Nov 19, 2008 at 8:55 am
If anyone is looking for a place to stay for the inauguration or has a place to rent check out the site below. We are linking those who have space with those who need it.
http://cheapinaugurationrentals.wordpress.com/about/
Mamacinda
Nov 22, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Here’s a bunch of inaugural info.
http://www.obama-mamas.com/inauguration.html
ben s.
Nov 24, 2008 at 10:22 pm
your hosting answer for the inauguration…
Marie
Nov 24, 2008 at 10:46 pm
My son lives across the street from Union Station, and only blocks from the Capital. He will be out of town the week of the Inauguration, and is thinking of renting his apartment out for that week.
He doesn’t mind anyone using it, but is concerned about how his apartment will be treated while away.
Nice, large, spotless, 1 bedroom, with upgrades, so he wants it respected more than anything else.
Any thoughts on what others think about how renters care for places rented this way?
He plans on finding out what the standard rate is, and go from there.
He has a really nice apartment, so I worry, like he does, that big parties and such, can destroy a place, and wonder if he should even bother.
Your thoughts?
He says he’s not really out to make money, but that it seems a shame, not to let someone use it, since he won’t even be here.
Do you think a large deposit would be in order?
He’s charging $125.00 a night, and $850.00 for the week. (so far)
Jon
Nov 25, 2008 at 1:13 am
Thanks for the ideas and offers of places to stay.
$125 a night across from Union Station? That’s a deal…. or perhaps a steal.
A deposit and contract is probably the best way to rent a place.
Marie
Nov 26, 2008 at 11:47 am
Hard to believe what I’m seeing on local tv lately. People are renting places for tons of money. How sad.
I had not known about this when I wrote about my sons apartment, (had pneumonia) and no tv for a couple weeks. Isn’t it pitiful to see what people are doing.
I’m so proud of my son. Turns out that when I mentioned it to my son, he said he already knew about it, and that some of his friends are moving in together that week, so they can split the money they make on the rental of 3 apartments.
I grew up in DC and I gotta tell ya, it sure has changed. OK so I’m old, but I actually remember when DC yards ALL had gorgeous red roses in the front yard, and people hung out in their yards and talked over fences, shared “fixes” for their roses, and would swing on porch swings while watching their kids play ball in the streets! We ate together, no door was locked, and you gave of what you had, to whoever needed it. OK so it sounds like “Leave it to Beaver” BUT IT WAS REAL! Honest! I believe in making money, and you should rent out for those who would be proud to be at the “Event of the Year” but honestly, $10,000.00 for an Apartment that looks like a dump! So Sad, is all I can say. Humanity? Where are you?
My son? Well, I guess all those years of teaching him to sometimes just share all that you have, DID indeed pay off, and this is one proud momma for sure.
He rented his apartment to a family of 5, husband, wife, and three children. They have a huge family in DC and now the entire family will be here together for the Inauguration. Including daybeds for the children from the family. I must say, that this made my day, and I have one more thing to be THANKFUL on this Thanksgiving Day! My son is a MAN I can be so proud of. I pray everyone has a beautiful Thanksgiving!
Blessings to one and all!
Swampland - TIME.com » Blog Archive Can You Spare A Room? «
Dec 12, 2008 at 9:13 am
We’ve been reading all these stories about how hard it is going to be to find accommodations in DC next month.
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