Empire Journal | Washington DC
The Spa at MGM National Harbor: What It Actually Is, 10 Miles From DC
27,000 square feet, eleven treatment rooms, a full salon and a fitness center on the Potomac — plus the weekend surcharge and booking line most guides leave out.
If you want a real spa day near Washington without a two-hour drive, the closest full-scale option is across the river in Maryland: The Spa & Salon at MGM National Harbor, on the banks of the Potomac in Oxon Hill, roughly 10 miles from downtown DC.
Here is the version with no marketing fog. Every number below is published by the property itself.
The facts
- Size: 27,000 square feet.
- Treatment rooms: eleven.
- Also on site: a full-service salon, an advanced fitness center, and additional private amenities.
- Hours: Monday through Sunday, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
- Peak surcharge: MGM notes an additional $15 charge on all bookings made for Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, due to demand.
- Appointments: 301-971-6115.
- Address: 101 MGM National Ave, National Harbor, Maryland 20745.
The resort around it has 308 hotel rooms, a 3,000-seat theater, and restaurants from name chefs — which matters for planning, because the spa closes at 6:00 PM and the rest of the evening has to happen somewhere.
How to plan the day properly
Book the treatment first, then the table. With a 10:00 AM–6:00 PM window, a late-afternoon appointment ends exactly when dinner service begins downstairs. That is the sequence that works: treatment, then a shower in the spa, then dinner in the building, then the theater if something is on.
Go on a weekday if the $15 matters to you. The surcharge is per booking on Friday through Sunday and holidays, so a Tuesday appointment is quietly the better value — and the property is calmer.
Confirm current services by phone. The service menu and pricing move; the appointments line above is the property''s own number and is the only thing we will tell you to trust on price.
Treat the location as a DC trip, not a Maryland one. You are minutes from the National Harbor waterfront and the Capital Wheel, and a short drive from the National Mall. A spa afternoon plus a monuments evening is a genuinely good single day.
What we are not going to tell you
We are not going to publish a treatment price list, a "secret" upgrade, or a claim that this is a MICHELIN-recognized spa — MICHELIN does not rate spas, and any site that implies otherwise is guessing. What is above is what the owner publishes. That is the whole standard.
Let the AI build the rest of the day
Give Empire Experience your dates and it will build the full day around an appointment like this — waterfront dinner, the Mall in the evening, where to sleep — with booking links attached.
Build my DC + National Harbor day →
Sourced from MGM Resorts'' own property pages, the official National Harbor directory, and Marriott''s MGM National Harbor listing.
