DC Hotels Less Busy for Obama's 2nd Inauguration Want to come to President Barack Obama's inauguration? There's plenty of room. Second inaugurations tend to draw fewer spectators and finding a place to stay in Washington won't be nearly as difficult this time as it was four years ago. District of Columbia officials are expecting 600,000 to 800,000 visitors for the Jan. 21 inauguration. That's far less than the 1.8 million people who flooded the National Mall in 2009 to witness the swearing-in of America's first black president. Back then, some hotels sold out months in advance and city residents rented out their homes for hundreds of dollars a night. This time, hotels say they're filling up more slowly, with rooms still available and prices at or slightly below where they were four years ago.