Hotels of Famous Scandals in Washington, D.C.

Eliot Spitzer's infamous, resignation-inducing hook-up in Room 871 with prostitute Ashley Dupre earned the Mayflower instant notoriety. But it wasn't the first scandal in the hotel's colorful past. President Clinton was photographed publically embracing Monica Lewinksy at a 1996 campaign event here, and House prosecutors later interviewed Lewinsky in the Presidential Suite before Clinton's impeachment trial.

This stately 144-room boutique across the street from the White House has seen its share of political intrigues; the motto of its famous bar, appropriately named Off the Record, is "Washington's Place to be Seen and Not Heard." But the motto doesn't always ring true. In 1986, Carl "Spitz" Channell met donors at the hotel to raise money to arm Nicaraguan rebels, but he got caught and later pled guilty to charges relating to the Iran-Contra affair.

This elite D.C. boutique is named after a founding father with an ignonimious sex life, so it's only fitting that it was the scene of a salacious modern-day political sex scandal. Call girl Sherry Rowlands told Star Magazine that she regularly met with Clinton strategist Dick Morris at his Jefferson suite, where he allegedly sucked her toes and let her listen in on phone calls with President Clinton. (We're assuming not at the same time -- but who knows?)

The only interesting thing about this massive convention hotel is its notorious history. As President Reagan was leaving the hotel after a speech in 1981, he received a gunshot wound to the lung at the hand of mentally-ill would-be assassin John Hinckley Jr., who was attempting to impress actress Jodie Foster. The White House Press secretary, a policeman, and a secret service agent were also wounded (although none fatally).