Palm Beach Post: Marlins, Spitzer enjoy D.C.‘s infamous Mayflower

Hanley Ramirez, the Marlins’ star shortstop, stepped outside the team hotel on his way to lunch when a tour bus screeched to a sudden stop on Connecticut Avenue. Pressed against the windows, dozens of passengers aimed their cameras and snapped away. But they weren’t photographing Ramirez. They were shooting the hotel’s stately entrance with its famous sign - The Mayflower.
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The grande dame of D.C. hotels ... has become a tourist magnet since federal investigators said then-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer booked Room 871 to rendezvous with a prostitute.
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The Marlins, who tonight resume their three-game series against the Nationals, are the first baseball team to sample Spitzermania. Few players were amused.

“I can’t believe a tour bus would stop because that’s where the governor did his thing,’’ pitcher Scott Olsen said. “You have the White House and the monuments and the Capitol, and they stop at the Mayflower? That’s ridiculous.”

Catcher Matt Treanor joked that he was staying in the room where Spitzer’s alleged $4,300 tryst took place. Treanor actually was staying one floor below. Room 871 is temporarily off-limits, according to a desk clerk who did not want to be named, because visitors were knocking on the door and disturbing guests.
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Two weeks ago, the “871” placard on the door disappeared. “We’re keeping an eye on eBay,’’ said Joseph Cardone, the hotel’s resident manager.