D.C. Dorms Become Hot Property

Posted on December 8, 2008
Filed Under News, The Daily Prereq | By Jessica Dye

College students are always on the lookout for an extra buck, so it’s no surprise that the upcoming presidential inauguration has Washington D.C. dorm-dwellers searching for ways to cash in on the estimated four million visitors expected to descend on our nation’s capital this Jan. 20. With the city’s hotels booked solid and traffic already starting to back up, students at some of our nation’s capital’s colleges–including George Washington University, American University, and the University of Maryland–are turning to Craigslist to rent out their rooms for the weekend.

Just how much does one extra-long twin bed fetch for Inauguration Weekend? The ads (anything from straight-up dorms to off-campus apartments and houses) are asking for as little as $500 to as much as $2,500 for a three-day stay. But the schools are already getting wise–GWU’s administration has forbidden guests from staying in students’ rooms without students there, and any visitors have to be authorized well in advance. They cite security concerns, which…yeah, well, duh. But Craiglist is still crawling with off-campus students looking to pay a few bills with their beds.

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2 Responses to “D.C. Dorms Become Hot Property”

  1. PatrickSTA on December 8th, 2008 4:05 pm

    Considering the amount of rooms that many DC-area hotels are holding for those willing to pay an an arm-and-a-leg, this isn’t surprising. Would the situation be the same if the school had empty rooms they could make money off of?

    Patrick
    MarCom @ STA Travel

  2. Jessica Dye on December 8th, 2008 7:13 pm

    No matter how much they’re charging, I’m sure it’s a steal compared to more, ahem, legal lodging options.

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