July, 1995: I travelled to England to present the very first European PD GRAD SCHOOL, which featured as speakers Mike McVay, Larry Rosin, Harold Taylor (the great Time Management speaker) and myself. We were pleased to have attendees from 16 different countries.
I picked the Heathrow Hilton Hotel because it is advertised as within walking distance from Heathrow Airport. And it is — at least, from one of Heathrow’s (then) four terminals.
Heathrow, however, is a big sprawling mess of an airport, and if you land at one of the other three terminals it takes as long as 45 minutes for the airport shuttle bus to get from one end to the other. (I am not exaggerating.)
After this two-day event I spent a day outside of London, conducting my Air Personality Plus+ seminar for Mike Powell and Infinity Radio.
From there I got a ride into London, where I rode a train to Coventry…sharing the ride with Steve Orchard, who had arranged for me to present a series of seminars the following day for his GWR group.
The Hotel Room Room I Expected To Stay In...But Didn't
But first there was the hotel, which turned out not to be the Hilton I had been told to expect but instead was Coombe Abbey — certainly the most extraordinary hotel I’ve ever experienced.
Originally an 11th Century Cistercian Abbey, it’s surrounded by 500 acres of parkland, formal gardens, an 80 acre lake…and a moat. Each sleeping room is different in its own luxurious, eccentric way.
Notice The Loo Hiding Behind The Swinging Bookcase
Mine had a “hidden” bathroom; the only way to access it was to push back the false bookcase (above).
The company that operates Coombe Abbey is “No Ordinary Hotels.” They also operate Lumley Castle in County Durham, dating back from the 14th Century.
Steve had scheduled a grueling day for me. (It was made considerably more grueling by the seminar hotel’s completely non-functioning air conditioning on a hot July day. The hotel? The Hilton where I originally was told I’d be staying.)
GWR programme controllers and presenters came from all over England, and Steve staggered the sessions so there would be room for everyone (and to accommodate their various schedules).
The day began with two back-to-back 2-hour sessions for presenters: Developing a Personality Style Within A Format. That was followed by Building A Great Breakfast Show, and the day ended with a 75-minute Programme Controllers’ Session in which we talked about Leading, Critiquing and Motivating Your Air Staff.
When it was all over, GWR’s Nick Piggott drove me to the train station for the ride back to London, followed by the cab ride to a different hotel near Heathrow Airport (the Sheraton; I recommend it if you want to be close to the airport), where I spent the night before flying back home to L.A. the next morning.
