Plenty of Room at the Inn; WaPo Notes 15,000 Vacant Rooms for Obama Inaugural

Pssst. Eight hundred rooms in Washington, D.C. proper and a total of 15,000 rooms "in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and the District" remain unbooked for the Obama apotheosis inaugural. Pass it on.

"Actually, Hotel Space Remains Available," the Washington Post's Paul Schwartzman quietly reported on page B2 of the January 15 edition's "Inauguration Watch." Staffer Paul Schwartzman cited Washington's "official tourism office, Destination DC" as the source of the stat.

Last Friday, I noted how the Post reported that "Inaugural Renters [Are] Begging For Takers." That 29-paragraph story was given the front page treatment on the paper's January 9 Metro section:

Across the Washington region, homeowners' dreams of a quick and easy payday are evaporating as the days tick down to President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony Jan. 20: The inaugural housing market has gone bust in record time.