Hotel Zena, a Viceroy Urban Retreat

The Smithsonian Institution—the world's largest museum and research complex—includes 19 museums and galleries and the National Zoological Park. Most Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo are free and open every day of the year except December 25.

State-of-the-art concert space presents top-name rock, punk, hip-hop and country acts nightly.

The Kennedy Center, located on 17 acres overlooking the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., is America's living memorial to President Kennedy as well as the nation's busiest arts facility. Touring Kennedy Center productions and its television, radio, and Internet broadcasts reach more than 40 million people around the world each year. As part of the Kennedy Center's Performing Arts for Everyone program, more than 400 free performances are offered each year featuring international, national, and local artists. These include daily 6 p.m. concerts on the Millennium Stage—now in its 16th year—which are streamed live over the Internet and digitally archived on Kennedy-Center.org.

The Walter E. Washington Convention Center, an extraordinary 2.3 million-square-foot conventions and meetings facility, is equipped to handle events of all sizes, from small groups and break-out meetings to events for 500 to 42,000 attendees. One of the most energy-efficient buildings for its size, the Convention Center includes a range of mixed-use exhibit spaces, 198,000 square feet of flexible meeting space with a total of 77 break-out rooms and the largest ballroom in the region. Whatever the size of the event, the service of the Convention Center staff is unparalleled.

Every president since John Adams has occupied the White House, and the history of this building extends far beyond the construction of its walls. From the Ground Floor Corridor rooms, transformed from their early use as service areas, to the State Floor rooms, where countless leaders and dignitaries have been entertained, the White House is both the home of the President of the United States his family and a museum of American history. The White House is a place where history continues to unfold.

CityCenterDC has become the unequivocal centerpiece of Downtown DC. Encompassing 10-acres in the heart of the District, CityCenterDC is a 2.5 million square foot vibrant neighborhood development enlivened with a mix of condominiums, apartments, offices, public spaces, hotel, restaurants and shops.

The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The National Park Service (NPS) administers the National Mall, which is part of its National Mall and Memorial Parks unit. The term National Mall commonly includes areas that are officially part of West Potomac Park and Constitution Gardens to the west, and often is taken to refer to the entire area between the Lincoln Memorial and the United States Capitol, with the Washington Monument providing a division slightly west of the center. The National Mall receives approximately 24 million visitors each year.