Far from the Las Vegas Strip, MGM Resorts International opens its $1.4 billion National Harbor casino and resort just outside the nation's capital this week.
It's advertising a gambling floor "bigger than the White House'' and an art collection that includes a large welded collage by Bob Dylan. It is the singer and Nobel laureate's first work of art for a public space on permanent display.
MGM designed the first casino resort just outside Washington, D.C., to complement the city of monuments across the Potomac River. It has a 308-room hotel and spa, plus restaurants with well-known chefs. High-end retail also is planned.
MGM is aiming to attract international travelers, as well as U.S. tourists.
The casino resort opens Thursday night in Oxon Hill, Maryland, at 11 p.m.
