WASHINGTON -- Camila Chaudron hoped her friends wouldn't take her seriously when she invited them to stay in her Georgetown University dorm room during President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration.

But with hotel rooms going for premium prices, or sold out, Chaudron quickly found her prime Washington location in high demand. Now, she has three guests coming.

''I invited pretty much all of my friends as a joke,'' says Chaudron. ``I wasn't expecting them to say yes.''

Chaudron, her roommate, Noelle Kennedy-White, and many of their classmates are hosting friends and family for the inauguration as hotel rooms and rental houses fill up in the district, Virginia and Maryland.

Georgetown has limited each student to two guests, so a neighbor will house Chaudron's third guest.

''It's a way to not break the rules, but work around them,'' said Chaudron, who's from Honolulu. ``In an ideal situation, I'd have 10 people over, maybe more.''

IN DEMAND

Kennedy-White started getting phone calls from friends ``right after the election.''

She has registered her younger cousin and a high school friend, both of whom she describes as ``huge Obama supporters.''

While she finds the registration process personally annoying, she understands the reason for the security measures.

``Obviously, it'll be easier for people to sneak on campus.''

Universities in Washington are requiring students to register guests staying in their rooms and follow normal policies -- no sleeping in hallways or common rooms, no subletting university-owned housing.

Students filled out online forms that included contact information and arrival and departure dates for all guests. The schools will use this information for security.

Georgetown University began issuing guest passes on Friday that will be required for entry into residential buildings on campus.

The housing department at the George Washington University asked students over the Thanksgiving break to consider whether they would host friends and family for the inauguration. More than 1,500 students applied in early December to have two guests each in their rooms, which can hold up to six people.

Seth Weinshel, housing programs director at George Washington, said that whether all the guests will sleep comfortably ``depends on your definition of comfortable.''

At American University, the housing department's main concern is the ''load on the plumbing system,'' said Chris Moody, executive director of Housing and Dining Programs.

American is not limiting the number of guests per student, but is monitoring building capacity and will ask students with more than two guests to find alternate housing for them.

School officials said they have been alerted to students attempting to sublet their apartments or space on their floor on various websites.

At American, guests must remain with residents at all times, which Moody hopes will discourage students from trying to make a profit off of their desirable location.

Hayley Campbell, a Georgetown freshman, sent an ''open invitation to everyone'' in a Senate Youth program she attended in March while watching Democratic primary returns.

''This was ages ago, when we all thought this was crazy,'' she says about the participants' hopes for Obama's inauguration at the time.

One friend will sleep in her bed, and another will sleep on the floor.

A friend of Campbell's is subletting her apartment for $15,000 for five days.

Freshman Alex Bozzette's guest is his father, who worked on the Obama campaign and has a ticket to the swearing-in.

''He's paying for my tuition, so if he wants to sleep in my bed, I guess he can,'' Bozzette says.

But Bozzette said ``it's going to be strange to have an old guy in the hall and using the bathroom.''

Still, he is excited to share the experience with his father. The territory will be familiar: Bozzette's father once lived in the dorm.

''He'll be back in Harbin for the first time in 30 years,'' Bozzette said.

Deven Comen, another Georgetown freshman, has had friends ask to stay in her dorm room over inauguration weekend since her acceptance letter arrived.

''I've been bombarded by requests,'' she says.

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS

Comen's roommate, Clio Seraphim, has two friends visiting, one whom she describes as a ''crazy liberal'' and another as a ``raging conservative.''

The roommates are trying to figure out food, sleeping, and bathroom logistics for their guests.

They plan to eat out -- and may have to take showers away from the dorm, too.

''The showers will be difficult, especially since only two have water pressure,'' Seraphim said.

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