One of my most favorite hotels in Washington DC is the Hay Adams.  Stayed there many times, because I had business that took me to Washington at least once a month, and I enjoyed the ambiance of a hotel with special service and a location within blocks of the White House.  The Hay Adams is a very special hotel steeped in history.  And now the first Afro American President-Elect and his family is staying there until he is inaugurated the President of the United States and from the suite that he will be staying in, he and his family will be overlooking the White House of the People, across Lafayette Square, a house that he and his family will be residing in for the next four years.

Obama tried to get into some special guest quarters the White House has nearby to accomodate his family’s needs because his kid’s were to enter a private school at this time, but they were occupied.  And so the Hay Adams appears to have been a second choice.

By my observation of what this hotel once was when I stayed there in the 60′s, 70′s and 80′s, and what it has become since it was recently upgraded and re-opened in 2002, the Obama’s are not slumming it, especially if the secret service has blocked off an entire floor as has been reported.

It is one of Washington DC’s most revered landmarks.  It is named after distinguished residents who lived on the site, John Hay, private assistant to President Abraham Lincoln and later Secretary of State, Henry Adams, an acclaimed author and desendant of US Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams.

When I stayed at the hotel it was not uncommon to see the columnists Evans and Novak having an early breakfast in the oak paneled dinning room or Art Buchwald having lunch with a subject he might be doing a satirical piece on.

Down the street, a block and a few doors to the left was the once popular Sans Souci restaurant, where Washington personalities — from columnists, senators, congressman and yes presidents, John F. Kennedy and Jaqueline, would dine.

The Hay-Adams has unparalled views of the White House, Lafayette Square and St. John’s Church, where many of our presidents have worshiped.

The hotel opened in 1928 and quickly attracted prominent Washingtonians and elite travelers, including Ethel Barrymore, Amelia Earhart, Sinclair Lewis and Charles Lindbergh.

At the time it introduced Washington’s first air-conditioned dining room.

The hotel has 145 rooms, featuring 20 suites with heritage, luxury contemporary comfort, including fire places and today’s technology.

Now today in this age of financial disaster, recession, bailouts of financial institutions, the auto industry and President-elect Obama promising close to a trillion dollar stimulus package, I can’t give you the exact price of what a floor at the Hay-Adams would cost, or what kind of a deal the President-elect made.

But I can tell you that the lowest price room in the hotel goes for $479 per night and a one bedroom luxury suite with a view of Lafayette Park, consisting of 1,080 square feet would cost $3,200 per night.  This consists of two rooms, with a pull-out sofa, a fire place and a church view.

Now this does not come with meals, but it does have a wireless internet, business center accommodations, a daily newspaper and 14.50 % tax.

I guess you can figure it out for yourself, for after all it’s your money and the Obama’s will be staying there for 18 days, and then they will be moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and it will be costing you a lot more, perhaps the Hay-Adams is a bargain.