Inauguration travel advice

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The New York Times gives an overview of the lodging and travel situation:

Most downtown hotels are either sold out Jan. 20 or charging exorbitant prices and requiring at least three-night minimum stays. Rooms at Washington bed-and-breakfasts are going for $800 a night. And the suburbs are booking up fast.
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There are about 95,000 hotel rooms in the Washington area, including Fairfax and Arlington, Va. A few were still showing availability in a recent search at Destination D.C.’s Web site, www.washington.org, but rooms weren’t cheap. The Kellogg Conference Hotel, located on the campus of Gallaudet University, listed rooms from $618.75 a night from Jan. 17 to Jan. 21. Starting rates at the Hilton Washington Embassy Row were listed from $949.
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There’s also Craigslist.com, where entrepreneurial Washingtonians have begun to list their homes for rent. Concerned about scammers? Vacation rental sites like Homeaway.com and VRBO.com still have some availability for the inaugural week and offer a $5,000 guarantee if the listing does not exist or you are wrongfully denied access to a vacation rental property for your stay.