The inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama is creating unprecedented demand for Anne Arundel County hotels and homeowners interested in renting out rooms or even entire homes.

Even with the Jan. 20 Washington, D.C., event more than two months away, 41 hotels from BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport to Annapolis are sold out the night before the inauguration of the nation's first African-American president, said Connie Del Signore, president and chief executive officer of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Conference and Visitors Bureau.

"The combination of change in administration, first African-American, winning by a...