Some say you have to fake it, until you make it. Very American, and it sounds really superficial. But if you take it differently, you could look at it as follows: do whatever you can do already, and take it step by step. And one day you probably end up stepping fully into your new reality. Or in my case: in this Madrilean 5-star hotel, filled with memories and a bit of mystery & eeriness.

IBM

When I was living in Madrid, I did some teaching jobs for IBM. I had a few group classes, and I also coached the international marketing manager, when she had to prepare a presentation for all of her international colleagues. Especially the latter was an interesting job, but one thing has stayed even more stuck in my mind: this energy field I could sense – as an empath – when I entered the building.

Of course no bad words about the edifice – I really enjoyed my teaching jobs over there – it’s just that it always felt like I entered this different grid, a different space of energy. And yes, a bit odd, notable, but also intruiging.

Suited & Booted

Anyways, as part of a side story, one day I walked from the metro stop – Cartagena, to be precise – into the direction of their office in Madrid. As if I was already tuning in into this switch of energy, this dark green car – a cool Mini – stopped along the road. The guy, totally suited & booted, apparently wanted to ask me something and showed me his boarding pass from a well-known airline. Turned out, he was a sales man from a perfume company, was still wearing a badge lanyard from the prominent IFEMA (events) building around his neck, and he was on his way to the airport, in order to fly back to Italy.

Since I was dressed in a smart way, he figured I might be interested in some of his perfumes. According to him, the small leftover stock was easy to take home by carry-on luggage, but the bigger bottles were not allowed to be put in his hand luggage. So instead of throwing them away, he thought that I would be interested if he sold them for 40% of the normal sales price.

I wasn’t interested at all, but when he unboxed one of the bottles, I had to admit that it really smelled good. Yet when I still refused his offer, he came up with his secret weapon: a nice and shiny watch, still in the original box, including a guarantee certificate. It hit me in my weak spot: I had been thinking about buying such a watch for a while. And I would get it for free, if I paid 100 euro for the 4 bottles of perfume. So I surrendered.

Scam

Now you could argue whether it was a scam or not (in hindsight, it was actually), but more importantly: he was ‘just’ using all kinds of sales techniques to convince me. He showed me his real boarding pass and his real IFEMA badge – as far as I could tell – to build some trust. Also, the perfume he got out of the box, did smell great. But when I woke up from his misleading sales pitch, I noticed that some of the stickers and price tags covered ‘-ino’ or ‘-on’ – or something like that. So the box of Boss, was actually called ‘Bossino’. And the Armani perfume was named: Armanon. Thing is: he didn’t lie about the brand’s names, I was just assuming they were legit. As the actual famous brands. And the watch seemed so much simpler, when I took it out of the pretentious box, far away from the fine guarantee certificate. Well, lesson learned: some things stay fake, even if you are throwing some sauce of beauty on them.

Puerta America

Two weeks ago I went to Madrid again – for 5 days. It was really nice, as it always is, and this time I stayed in two different places: Hotel Sardinero and Hotel Puerta America. And the reason? Well, first and foremost, I love Hotel Sardinero. But I booked two nights at the Puerta America as well, because of something else: a sudden opportunity. Thing is, I had never stayed at this 5-star hotel, simply because it was too expensive. Then again, I actually knew the place (back then called ‘Silken Puerta America’) due to some other reasons: celebrating Dutch King’s Days in Madrid, and watching the Dutch football team during the World Cup 2014, with hundreds of fellow Dutch people.

Coming Home

Being Dutch – with other types of roots as well – simply brought me to the annual parties at the Hotel Puerta America. It always felt like coming home, while being in Madrid. Blond girls with blue eyes were smiling at me, and tall Dutch guys were cheering and toasting with me. So I kinda knew the place by heart – the observatory on the top floor (with great views), the spacious, luxurious toilet area, and the elevators that would bring you all the way up to the party area. Passing the floors that were designed by famous architects as Jean Nouvel and Zaha Hadid, with rooms that looked like art-work – totally white as snow, or light green like a sci-fi forest.

I had also made some great memories over there. Once I brought my Spanish then-girlfriend to the place, to introduce her to the Dutch culture. Guess she liked it, but we were just being in love, so it could have been – say – the birthday of the Danish King in order to have a great time as well.

A year or two later I kissed this Dutch girl on the lips over there, I brought some great friends to the place as well, and I even saw DJ Martin Garrix passing by – while not having a clue who he actually was. And when the Dutch football team reached the semi finals of the world cup, we all celebrated as if they had already won this cup.

And each time when I was there, taking the elevators up or down, I thought: imagine you could stay at the hotel after the party or the event. How cool would that be, right?

Sponsoring

So two weeks ago I actually stayed at this hotel. Simply because they had an offer I couldn’t refuse: suddenly super affordable, for two days, because of the sponsoring by some commercial third party. Also, the possibility of reviving some of my nice memories helped to book the room. And on top of that: I wanted to bring something to life – becoming part of my reality. Something that I had considered out of reach; in this case because of the price. A way of telling my subconscious that some things can be done, even if they looked a bit impossible and you were just dreaming about them.

Now some of you might think: so what was the catch? Well, there wasn’t any. Altough I do have to share some things that stood out to me – will tell about them in a minute. And when I booked the hotel room, I got this confirmation that said: the particular hotel room will be assigned by arrival. So I figured: well, it might not be one of the most exclusive rooms – like designed by Zaha Hadid – but it would still be in the same hotel. So how bad could it be?

Caught My Attention

When I walked to the hotel, from the metro stop, I suddenly realized how close the building of the (former) IBM office was. And I remembered the encounter with this ‘sales man’ in his green Mini as well. Just some memories, nothing to hold me back for any kind of reason. Yet, when I arrived at the hotel, there were actually a few things that caught my attention. First of all, I got room 213 – basically room 13 on the 2nd floor. And secondly, they didn’t show the room number next to the door, unlike all the other room numbers, that were perfectly visible.

The cleaning lady – when I asked about it – told me that “it was just broken”, this part of the illuminated, glassy wall, where you would normally see the room number bright and shiny. Yeah, right – but no offence taken. And when I got to bed – later that day – it felt a bit eerie. Nothing too scary, no ghosts or something, just a bit of oddness – the energy, I mean.

Superstition

Well, it could have been something that I had made up myself, subconsciously. And the fact that the hotel was pretty much located on the same block as the IBM building and ‘the street of the sales man’, could have been just a coincidence. But all these things did cross my mind.

Anyways, since I had actually lived on number 13 in one of my first flats in Madrid, and I had an amazing 10 months over there, any superstition about the number 13 wouldn’t scare me anymore. In fact, looking back at the whole event with this particular hotel room, I would say: let’s look at it in a positive way. According to numerology the number 13 stands for: transformation, rebirth, new beginnings. Some kind of leadership as well, and breaking through old patterns. And the number 2 – as in 2nd floor – stands for: balance, harmony & partnership.

Now I wouldn’t break down every single hotel room number I get assigned, but I like the previous interpretations. Also, sometimes you have to take the leap, in order to get to someplace new – to make something come true. It might even feel a bit weird in the beginning, uncomfortable, but ‘divine third parties’ may interfere – they might ‘sponsor’ your life in mysterious ways.

Possibly, then you realize that some things in your life are ‘fake’, not belonging to your own reality anymore, simply because they don’t serve you anymore. And it’s up to you what to do with any mystery or bits of discomfort, that come along with your desire. But then you might realize that you already made it – whatever the physical outcome would be.