Hotel prices shoot with Obama inauguration fever

Washington: The upcoming second inauguration of US President Barack Obama, scheduled for January 21, has created a frenzied grab-fest of luxury hotel rooms and exclusive tickets that is driving prices far beyond their face value.

"Everyone wants the tickets but they all want to haggle, and at this point I can haggle for more than I was asking to start with," said one man who posted an ad on the Craigslist classified website offering two seats to the swearing-in ceremony at the US Capitol for $4,000.

He asked not to be identified because he did not want to get the friend who gave him the tickets in trouble. He said his friend works for a Republican member of the Congress, and got the tickets for free, but was not keen on watching a Democratic president take the oath of office, so he handed them over and the two men agreed to split the profits.

Congressional staffers who get passes to the swearing-in event at no cost are not technically allowed to sell these. Something else that is selling like hot cakes - hotel rooms. There are 27,000 hotel rooms in Washington, and the city is braced to sell out over the inauguration weekend.