President-elect Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, and their daughters Sasha and Malia arrive in the nation's capital sometime this coming weekend, after wrapping up a Hawaiian vacation and saying goodbye to Chicago, the transition staff has confirmed. Obama will work on an economic recovery plan and be preparing for his inauguration. The girls need to be in Washington to start classes at their new private school, Sidwell Friends.

Which hotel will the Obamas call home until Jan. 15, when they can temporarily move into Blair House? Aides aren't saying (and neither are the hotel managers we reached).

Some thoughts: 

The Willard. It's luxurious, historic and close to the White House. Symbolically important given Obama's love of and comparisons to President Lincoln. Lincoln stayed there from February 23, 1861, until his March 4 inauguration and had to be smuggled in at dawn because of assassination concerns. A brochure on the hotel's Web site said Lincoln held staff meetings in front of the lobby fireplace.

The Hay-Adams. Also luxurious and just across Lafayette Square from the White House with a view. The hotel sits on the site that was home to both former Lincoln assistant and secretary of state John Hay, and writer and presidential descendant Henry Adams.

The Mayflower. Another Washington power hotel, it's where Eliot Spitzer met a call girl under an assumed name. But it's also where FDR worked on his inaugural address that included the line about having nothing to fear but fear itself. President Truman stayed there during White House renovations. And Hillary Clinton took Obama there to meet some of her top donors after he defeated her in the primaries.

Mandarin-Oriental. Posh, close enough to the White House by motorcade, but also very private, out of the way and perhaps logistically easier to control. Oh, and Hawaii's inaugural ball is to be held there.

Park Hyatt. Obama's campaign finance chair and good friend and adviser Penny Pritzker is heiress to the Hyatt hotels. There are other Hyatts in and around DC, but Park Hyatts are consistently elite, calm and discreet.

There are several other high-end possibilities where mover-shakers go, including the Four Seasons in Georgetown or something even closer to Sidwell Friends.