auxiliarykitty

Hi -

I am considering traveling to D.C. with a friend of mine to witness the Inauguration firsthand. I'd like general advice on inexpensive ($100 or under, ideally) hotels in metro D.C. I'm having some trouble already locating any hotels--the online sites claim that all but the $200+ are booked, and I don't have enough knowledge (or time!) to look up the website of each individual hotel in D.C. I thought I'd be on easy street starting this early, but perhaps not. Thanks for any help!

Anonymous

Well, you're not the only one who knows the date of the inauguration. Have you tried washingtondchotels.com?

I would expect that security will be really tight and that some sort of authorization or invitation will be required -- and it's definitely too soon for us hoi polloi to be looking for our invites!

The inauguration week will be extra-busy, and it's ALWAYS difficult to find a hotel in DC for under $100. Probably your only chance is with Priceline, at the last minute when hotels start getting cancellations.

mikemo

I used to stay at:
Connecticut-Woodley 2647 Woodley Rd, NW
(M - Woodley Park 1 bl) 13 rm "B&B"
Connecticut Avenue Day's Inn 4400 Conn Ave NW (M - Van Ness 2 bl)
Good luck finding anything sub $100.
M

E

Do you know whether you will be able to get tickets to the inaugural itself and/or surrrounding events, such as one of the balls? I ask because "public", i.e., no-invite-required, viewing is generally very limited, and will be limited even more so this time around due to security concerns; the free viewing areas are also very far away from the main event and usually limit you to seeing the motorcade go by. (I lived in DC during several inaugurals and attended one--Clinton's second--b/c a co-worker had spare tix; also attended a pre-inaugural address by Bush 41, b/c another friend was a campaign volunteer.)
However, DC is very festive during an inaugural, and if you don't mind the cold, it can be lots of fun to bop around and see what you can see. I just wanted to warn you about arriving without an invite...if you can start schmoozing your local party activists now, do so!
As for hotels, it will be a busy time in DC, obviously, and you won't find rock-bottom rates at any hotel within walking distance of a Metro stop. Try the Kalorama Guest House, a simple but nice B&B in upper Dupont--they often have rooms with shared bath for around $100. Good luck!

Underhill

Try www.capitalreservations.com.

bardo

FYI, anything under $200 would be considered very inexpensive - especially at a peak times such as the inauguration. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. You could try the Tabard Inn - good area, very nice, clean property that has some rooms around $100 or just over. Their rates are they same year round. Whatever you do, don't wait too much longer.
http://www.tabardinn.com/

kayd

There will be tickets offered to the public for most events surrounding the inauguration, but the inaugural committee will not be active until after the election (it is made up of the winner's people).
Hotels are always expensive in DC. Around the inauguration, expect prices to be even higher than usual and for most city (and close-in Virginia) hotels to have three or four day minimums.

Shane

As price and availability is important to you, I would consider Courtyard in Landover, MD. It is a five minute walk from the Metro Orange Line in a large grouping of business parks. Though Landover is not crime-free, the business park area where the Courtyard is will be very safe. The trip from the New Carollton Metro stop to Farragut West or McPherson Square is about half an hour. Courtyard has a web site (type Courtyard, Landover) and the phone number is (301) 577-3373.

auxiliarykitty

Thank you all for your responses--I had no idea that we would need tickets to view the inauguration! I'll look into that, and also into a few of these more remote hotels. I'm not too deterred by the information, though--as one poster said, it would be nice to be in the "center of the action" that week, even if we couldn't see it directly.