"We've had our waiting list for about a year now," said one staffer, who busily answered a lit-up switchboard.

Many lawmakers have already received tens of thousands of requests. Each Representative and Senator is only expected to get about 500 tickets each. A total of 240,000 tickets are being printed.

One person reportedly called Virginia Democratic Sen. Jim Webb's office, trying to make a deal: people can stay in his Virginia home for free, if he gets tickets.

The man's name is on the list -- along with 19,000 other names.

"Everybody's interested, and I wish I could accommodate all my friends and family, but they're going to have to get in line like everybody," said Jessica Smith, Sen. Webb's communications director.

Hotel rooms for inaugural week are already booked from Caroline County, Virginia, to Frederick County, Maryland. Even cut-rate hostels are jam-packed.

"Everyone's insistent: they have a special right to be here, and we need to make room for them," said Byron Sandford, of the William Penn house.

The hostel charges about $50 per bed, per night. It says it will not raise its rates in January, unlike many other hotels.

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