Cheapest Beds For Inauguration

WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- Hotel rooms in DC for the inauguration seem to cost about what Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was allegedly asking for a Senate seat. But if you're willing to share a room, there were a few places where you could have slept for less than the cost of a lawn chair.

Five blocks from the Capitol, in a neighborhood where townhomes are renting for tens of thousands, you can book a bed at the William Penn House for an amazing price. "$40 a night per person, including breakfast, linens and towels," says manager Byron Sandford.

The Penn House has room for 30, most of it in shared space. There is one room where you can get a little privacy -- for 50 bucks a bed. "This is what we call the Honeymoon Suite, because it has two beds," says Sandford.

The bathrooms are shared too. But check out the comfortable common space.

There's just one problem. Can you book my room for the Inauguration? "No. We've been full for six months."

Downtown, at Hosteling International, you can often get rooms for even less. "It's $25 a night!" says Jonathan Daukes, who says he loves the place.

They have jacked up rates a bit for Inauguration Week.
But $45 a bed is still a fraction of what people are paying for hotel rooms anywhere near here. "If they got in here, they could have saved themselves a whole lot of money." says group sales manager Toni Duvall. "We've been sold out since the beginning of October."

They do still have beds available at another hostel -- in New York. The hostels in Baltimore and Harpers Ferry are booked too.