A three-day, two-night convention in Madrid leaves time for the three things an annual convention is after: the leadership message, teamwork and celebration. We propose a base at the Meliá Castilla, an afternoon activity in the city, an awards gala at the Real Fábrica de Tapices and a close at the Prado.
Who is a three-day programme for?
For the convention that cannot be squeezed into one day: the annual meeting with awards, the international distributor gathering or the launch of the year with several departments presenting. With two nights, day one absorbs the arrivals, day two concentrates the content and the gala, and day three closes in time to travel home.
This is an indicative sample programme. We adjust it to your content, arrival times and the size of the group in the proposal we send you within 24 business hours.
Why the Meliá Castilla as a base?
The Meliá Castilla is built for conventions. According to its website, it has 28 event rooms and 5,410 m² of space, with a 641 m² auditorium for up to 511 people and the 557 m² Salón Tapices for up to 700. The hotel presents itself as a benchmark venue for the MICE sector in Madrid, and it has five restaurants and bars, which makes it easy to move lunches and informal dinners around without leaving the building.
With that combination, the plenary goes in the auditorium, the breakouts in the mid-sized rooms and lunch in a separate room, with no turnarounds between sessions. If you need a different location, the NH Collection Madrid Eurobuilding and the Eurostars Madrid Tower are alternatives on the same axis. We compare them in our guide to the best convention hotels in Madrid.
The gala at the Real Fábrica de Tapices
For the awards night we propose the Real Fábrica de Tapices, the Royal Tapestry Factory on Calle de Fuenterrabía, next to Atocha and Retiro Park. It is a workshop founded in the 18th century that still weaves and restores tapestries and carpets, and its halls full of looms give the gala a setting that no hotel ballroom can reproduce.
We agree capacity and set-up with the venue according to the size of your group. If the group is very large or you prefer not to move, the gala stays in the hotel's Salón Tapices. Other options for mid-sized groups are Casa de América, in the Palacio de Linares, and the Casino de Madrid. You will find more ideas in gala dinners.
How does it scale from 150 to 600 people?
| Attendees |
Plenary |
Day 2 activity |
Gala |
| 100 to 200 |
Auditorium or mid-sized room |
Three options to choose from |
Real Fábrica de Tapices, Casa de América or Casino de Madrid |
| 200 to 500 |
Full auditorium |
Three or four options in shifts |
Real Fábrica de Tapices or the hotel's Salón Tapices |
| 500 to 600 |
Salón Tapices |
Activities in shifts and parallel routes |
The hotel's Salón Tapices or another large-format venue |
With large groups, the afternoon activity runs in shifts so that no supplier or venue is overloaded, and the coaches to the gala leave in ten-minute waves.
Logistics and transfers
The hotel is about 15 km from the airport according to the Madrid Convention Bureau, between 25 and 30 minutes by coach in normal traffic. Day-one pick-ups run in time slots from 10:00 and the opening is scheduled after lunch, so nobody misses the start because of a delay.
The gala is about 25 minutes by coach from the hotel. On the last day we take advantage of the Prado and Atocha being a few minutes apart on foot: those travelling home by high-speed train walk to the station after lunch and the rest leave by coach for Barajas and Chamartín.
What changes with the season
In spring and autumn the afternoon activity can be outdoors and the gala drinks can run longer. In July and August we avoid outdoor activities in the middle of the day and prioritise air-conditioned spaces. In winter, Retiro Park is swapped for more time in the museum and the gala drinks are always indoors. Hotel availability depends heavily on the trade show calendar: we explain it in our guide to the best time for events in Madrid.
Budget: what it depends on
The main cost items are two nights' accommodation, rooms and the day delegate package, technical production for the plenary and gala, hire and styling of the gala venue, catering, awards and entertainment, team activities, guided visits and transfers. What moves the cost per person most is the season, the number of services outside the hotel and the gala production. We explain it item by item in how much a convention in Madrid costs.
Who is behind it
ECM is MC Group's brand for Madrid. The team has more than 20 years of experience in conventions and corporate events, has worked for brands such as Microsoft, Sanofi, Nestlé and Volkswagen, and has organised more than 100 corporate events in Madrid, with dedicated staff and event planners in the city. If you want a shorter format, see the 2-day programme; if you want to add an excursion, the 4-day programme. And if you would rather take the convention out of the city, the convention in Segovia.
Tell us about your convention and within 24 business hours we will send you a proposal with hotel, gala, agenda and an itemised estimate.
Sources
- Meliá: Meliá Castilla, meetings and events
- Meliá: Meliá Castilla, hotel information
- Madrid Convention Bureau: Meliá Castilla
- Madrid Convention Bureau: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu
- Madrid Convention Bureau: special venues (Palacio de Linares, Casino de Madrid)
