A two-day, one-night convention in Madrid balances content and experience when the team travels. Day one is for the leadership message and a welcome dinner on Calle de Alcalá; day two for workshops, awards and a walk through the centre. We handle the hotel, dinner, production and transfers.
When does a two-day convention make sense?
When a large part of the group arrives by high-speed train or by plane, a single day means early starts, rushing and leaving before dinner. With one hotel night the convention has room to breathe: there is time for the plenary, for working in small groups and for teams from different offices to really get to know each other.
It is the usual format for kick-offs with teams from several cities, distributor meetings and European conventions with short flights. This is an indicative sample programme: we adapt it to your arrival times, your content and the size of the group.
Why the NH Collection Madrid Eurobuilding?
The NH Collection Madrid Eurobuilding brings together what a residential convention needs. According to its website, it has 412 guest rooms and 33 meeting rooms, all with natural light, and its largest room takes up to 1,000 people. The plenary, breakouts and accommodation all happen in the same building on Calle del Padre Damián, a few minutes' walk from the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.
It also has a detail that carries weight for some leadership conventions: the hotel is home to DiverXO, David Muñoz's restaurant with three Michelin stars. We do not include it in the sample programme, but for a small dinner for the board or the award winners it is a strong argument.
If you prefer another area or need more capacity, the Meliá Castilla and the Eurostars Madrid Tower do the same job with a different character. We compare them in our guide to the best convention hotels in Madrid.
Why dinner at the Casino de Madrid?
For the evening we suggest leaving the hotel and taking the group into the centre. The Casino de Madrid, at number 15 Calle de Alcalá, is a historic club with high-ceilinged rooms a few steps from Puerta del Sol. According to the Madrid Convention Bureau, its Salón Real takes up to 224 people for a banquet and 350 for a reception.
Changing setting on the first night sets the tone of the convention: the group leaves the meeting room and steps into Madrid.
How does the programme scale from 60 to 400 people?
| Attendees |
Hotel |
Welcome dinner |
Walk through the centre |
| 60 to 120 |
Mid-sized or boutique convention hotel |
A room at the Casino or a private restaurant |
3 to 6 small groups with a guide |
| 120 to 250 |
Eurobuilding, Meliá Castilla or Madrid Tower |
Salón Real at the Casino de Madrid |
6 to 12 small groups, staggered starts |
| 250 to 400 |
Large room block in one hotel or two nearby hotels |
Several rooms or a larger unique venue |
Different routes by neighbourhood or alternative activities |
From around 250 people the challenge is not the meeting room but the bedrooms. We block the hotel at the same time as we book the dinner, because in trade show season it is the first thing to sell out.
Logistics and transfers
The hotel is about 12 km from the airport according to the Madrid Convention Bureau, between 20 and 25 minutes by coach in normal traffic, and a short coach ride from Chamartín. We cross-check the flight and train list with your company's travel agency and organise pick-ups in time slots, with our own staff at each point.
Between the hotel and Calle de Alcalá it is 20 to 30 minutes by coach. The return runs in two shifts. On day two, luggage stays in storage and the departure coaches stop at the hotel on the way to the airport and stations.
What changes with the season
Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons for the walk and for terraces. In July and August the heat suggests bringing the visit to the centre forward or swapping it for a museum. In December it pays to book dinner well in advance, because it coincides with company Christmas lunches. Before fixing dates, we check the IFEMA trade show calendar, which moves hotel availability across the whole city. We cover it in detail in our guide to the best time for events in Madrid.
Budget: what it depends on
The cost items of a two-day convention are:
- Accommodation: hotel category, room type and number of nights.
- Rooms and day delegate package: plenary, breakouts, breaks and lunch.
- Technical production: stage, screens, interpreting and streaming.
- Welcome dinner: venue hire, catering, styling, music and transfers.
- City experience: guides, audio guides and restaurant.
- Arrival and departure transfers: number of time slots and vehicles.
We go into detail in how much a convention in Madrid costs. The MC Group team has more than 20 years of experience producing conventions and has organised more than 100 corporate events in Madrid, so we work through the budget with you item by item.
If you are looking for a shorter format, see the 1-day programme; if you want a gala and a team activity, the 3-day programme. And if you would rather leave the city, the convention in Toledo is half an hour away by train. All the options are in convention programmes.
Tell us about your convention and within 24 business hours we will send you a proposal with hotel, dinner, agenda and an itemised estimate.
Sources
- NH Collection Madrid Eurobuilding: official website
- NH Collection Madrid Eurobuilding: meetings and events
- Madrid Convention Bureau: NH Collection Eurobuilding
- Madrid Convention Bureau: Casino de Madrid
- Madrid Convention Bureau: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu
- esMADRID: getting around Madrid
