Eurostars Madrid Tower

EuroFM Board Meeting in Madrid

by gordonilla

"Wednesday, 25 November 2009: London To Madrid"

I had a fairly full day at work, then travelled to Heathrow's terminal 3 to catch my 19.40 flight to Madrid Barajas. I do have to say that the flight was delayed and we finally took off - we did make up some time, but did not touch down until 23.30 or so.

The journey was uneventful and the flight was very full.

We finally arrived at terminal 4s; then walked our way to passport control, then on to eh train platform to take us to another terminal for our baggage collection and then exiting the airport.

A car had been booked for me with a lady driver called Segun. Sadly the delays and long wait meant that I did not get my lugagge until well after midnight. She look very tired when I came through the doors.

The journey to the hotel, Eurostars Madrid Tower, was fairly short and check in was fine. However I had to wait for a member of staff as they were having issues with the room keys working. As I was waiting, I came across one of my collegues, Jurjen, from the Netherlands. He was struggling to get them to confrim that they had in fact reserved the meeting room space for our meeting.

I was given room 2305, and it had a reasonable view. I was hungry and had a wonderful room service pizza, a pot of coffee and some water. Then bed.

"Thursday, 26 November 2009: Breakfast"

The breakfast room was located on the 30th floor of the hotel. It was quite pleasant and the views were very promising. The menu was mixed, the traditional continental breakfast and then a wide selection of warm items.

Their coffee was good and the fruit juice was enjoyable with a slightly different sharp taste not normally experienced when I drink orange juice. I sat with a few EuroFM board members, who were also attending the same meeting.

"Thursday, 26 November 2009: Meeting and Lunch"

The meeting started on time and was quite energetic and lots of robust discussion took place. There were outgoing and incoming members of the group - so it was quite a good dialogue. Things are changing!

We broke for lunch at around 13.30 - took the elevator from the 6th to the 30th floor. The veiews were mixed from this side of the hotel, there were clouds and mist. The food was excellent - and we somehow managed to carry on from 13.30 to around 15.45.

During the period of lunch we made some prentations to departing colleagues then had dessert, then finally back to the 6th floor meeting room to finish the meeting at around 16.00.

"Thursday, 26 November 2009: Around the hotel"

There is much construction work taking place around the hotel. In addition there as some wonderful water features which use excellent lighting effects to depcit them in the hours of darkness. During the day, they are more apparent in the sunlight.

The streets around the Madrid Tower Hotel are busy, and there ias a nearby bust and metro station not so far from the hotel. An easy walk and then quick transport to the central area of Madrid.

That evening I made a visit to the hotel spa, located on the 29th floor. It was enjoyable and not so busy. A treatment was reasonably priced, and I indulged in a 50 minute mixed session.

"Friday, 27 November 2009: Going home"

On Friday, I slept late as I was tired, then had breakfast. I had a walk around the hotel on a cool and crisp morning. Then checked out - I had a car to take me to our Tres Cantos offices, the driver Paco was waiting for me.

Once there I had a quick conversation with my colleague, then we went to lunch. It was enjoyable and a good mix of items. I then went back to the room I was working in; at 16.00 I went in the main office area and found that it was only me and an engineer. Everyone else had gone home; it was Friday afterall. At 17.00, Segun picked me up to take me back to the airport (terminal 4 this time).

The flight was full - and we arrived on time at Heathrow and I was though passport control very quickly by using the IRIS system. the wait for luggage was again lengthy.

I got a taxi back home, and once again the driver in the black cab did not know anything about that part of Greater London. I was home at about midnight.

"Additional Note: ARS"

I had a very pleasant burger meal at the terminal; the meal has the burger, fries or salad, desssert and a soft drink. It was fine and filled a hole I suddenly found I had in my stomach.

European Facility Management Conference 2010

by gordonilla

"Day 1: Sunday, 30 May 2010"

Once again the EuroFM's board are in Madrid - this time with members and of course the annual conference!

It is now Sunday morning, and I am sitting the BA Galleries lounge. I had a late night as I had been out all of yesterday, and had my packing to do when I got home. However I forgot that the Eurovision Song Contest final was on television. It would have been good to have been in Oslo; however I was in West London.

I had some trouble checking in; code shares don't always work! The auotmatic checkin did not like me, sad to go to Iberia's desks - I could not find them, so went to BA, who sent me to Iberia (where the lady on desk F113 was very rude). I was then sent back to BA and finally checked in.

Security was not so busy, and now I have just had breakfast and I am now enjoying a coffee. The lounge seems to have been refurbished and seems better than the previous BA/Iberia flights.

The flight is due to leave at 09.30 (BST) so a few more words then on my way. Oh, by the way - well done Lena! Eurovision 2011 will be held in Germany.

My flight was provided by Euro Atlantic Airlines; the service was very good and the joouirney was uneventful. We arrived on time and after the ususal train transfer to the baggage hall, the wait was shoirt and then finally I arrived at the Hotel Husa Chamartin.

The weather was excellent, and I even found I needed to buy some shorts. I did some preparatory work for my EuroFM meetings on Monday. Then not a lot else.

"Day 2: Monday, 31 May 2010"

Today is a public holiday in the UK and USA - so I found myself at 07.00 attendinbg a board meeting of EuroFM. This is not so good, on the other hand I am in fact in Spain. So I suspect that has taken some of the sting away from the early start to the day.

My next meeting is at 15.00, not in the Hotel Husa Chamartin, but a short walk away at the Madrid Eurostars Hotel. It is another hot and sunny day, so I will probably have to freshen up a little before 15.00.

The meeting was good, sadly we had very few attendees. However we had quality not quantity. There some good outputs from our discussions. As on a previous visit the Eurostars Madrid Tower Hotel was busy and a pleasant place to visit.

I returned to the hotel and did not go to the Welcome Reception of the Conference; I did have a good sleep.

"Day 3: Tuesday, 1 June 2010"

The European Facility Management Conference started in earnest to day - we had over 500 attendees, including the speakers.

This was better than we hoped for and it does seem as if we have a lot of people who attended from outside of Spain. Global financial crisis or not, a lot of particpants are here.

It was a full day, and I had another 15.00 meeting. This is becoming a habit. After this I went back to the Charmartin and freshened up and foolishly opened up my work emails (lots to do) and dealt with them all.

I, along with three other EuroFM board members took a taxi to the gala dinner. It was well attended too.

The food was good and the service was excellent; porvided by Eurest Services I believe - they were the EFMC 2010 Platinum Sponsor. I t was a long and hot night.

Finallky the coaches took people back to their hotels. We arrived back at about 01.30 - a drink then bed.

"Day 4: Wednesday, 2 June 2010"

Well, we are at the end of the day. The confernece is over, we had a members meeting and board election; then we went to a Tapas reception sponsored by ISS.

It was held on the 28th floor of the Madrid Eurostars Tower Hotel. So we had an excellent view over the nearby area. Sadly it is an area which has a lot of urban regneration happening. In plain language, there are lots of building activities taking place, so the view is not so good.

I should say that ISS were EFMC Gold Sponsors and we had an excelllent time with their team - who also had an exhibition stand throughout the conference.