WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama, who moves here with his family this weekend, will have to stay in a hotel after outgoing US President George W Bush told them that an official residence was "not available".
Obama had requested to stay at Blair House, opposite White House, as daughters Malia (10) and Sasha (7), are due to start school, but was told by the Bush administration that it was unavailable, booked solidly through January 15.
So, the Obamas have now decided to check-in at the Hay Adams Hotel, one of Washington DC's most prestigious addresses just yards from the White House, the media reported.
Opened in 1928, the hotel sits across Lafayette Square -- its name comes from two historical figures who lived on the site: John Hay, Private Assistant to President Abraham Lincoln and later Secretary of State, and Henry Adams, an author and descendant of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams.
Built in Italian Renaissance style, it is a favourite stop for visiting foreign dignitaries, Gulf princes and pop stars. The presidential suite in the penthouse normally sells for USD 2,500 to USD 5,000 a night.
Its master bedroom overlooks the White House and Lafayette Park and there is a gas-lit corner fireplace in the sitting room.
Although there was no room at the inn for the Obamas, Bush has invited the President-elect to a lunch next Wednesday when they will be joined by former US Presidents, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
The Obama daughters will be attending the private school Sidwell Friends, favoured by Washington's power elite and was chosen by the Clintons for their daughter Chelsea, then 12, in 1993.
