Sandy Park

This is an amazing complex of fantastic events facilities. We mean it. There are so many ways you can configure the spaces for your next event across the hotel and stadium, there’s barely anything that can’t be done by this brilliant team. Best of all? The venue is brilliantly located just off junction 30 of the M5, and only a few minutes from Exeter International Airport - not too shabby, eh?

The Venue’s connections don’t stop at the airport and motorway either, the venue is within easy reach of the beautiful cathedral city of Exeter, and the stunning Exe Estuary. There’s so much to see in this south west location - we couldn’t not shine the spotlight on Devon this month. The Nearest railway station is Exeter St Davids & Central, which is only 15 minutes away from the venue too!

The Courtyard Exeter Sandy Park is a stunner, we really loved the vibe of this venue. It feels brand new, because it is! From its classy, glass panelled and golden accented exterior to the smart, funky interior that combines that super-new feeling vibe with a timelessness that gives the hotel a homely feeling that many new builds lack!

There are two hundred and fifty rooms in the hotel that provide an amazing base, connecting your events directly to the stadium venue next door! When we say connecting, we mean it literally, there’s a stunning glazed bridge that connects sandy park to the adjacent hotel which means that event attendees never even need to step outside. The area has a campus-esque feeling that brings it all together with fantastic cohesion - a full takeover in the offseason could see your large event set up shop in numerous locations across the two venues.

There’s tons of parking outside both the stadium and hotel, 500 places to be exact. There’s also coach parking spots which can make your team feel like the travelling opponents for the upcoming game. As well as all this, the venue has a discreet area for loading in and out before and after your event, at the North Turnstile Entrance.

The team here has everything covered too, don’t forget the sustainability branch of Sandy Park which sees them make some fantastic efforts for the future. One really great initiative that the team here run is the use of Reusable cups instead of plastic, single use cups for large scale events like Party in The Park and more. The team told us that this eliminates the need for over 330,000 single use plastics.

Venue Address: Sandy Park Way, Exeter, Devon EX2 7NN
Venue Website: https://www.sandypark.co.uk / https://www.marriott.com/en-gb...
Sales Contact : Bev Gratton, Sales Manager
Phone Number: 01392 427427
Email Address: events@sandypark.co.uk

Distance from nearest airport: 4 Miles / 10 minutes from Exeter Airport
Distance from nearest railway station: Exeter St Davids & Central - 5 miles (15 Minutes) Exeter Newcourt & Digby & Sowton - 15 minute walk

No. of bedrooms: 250 - 12 Junior Suites 12 Superior Rooms 12 Superior Accessible Rooms 214 Deluxe Twins/Doubles
Parking: Yes - 500 spaces, including areas for Coaches

We’ve got to go straight to the food! Wow, the catering here is off the charts, often stadium catering prioritises scale over style when preparing food, due to the huge numbers that may potentially need to be catered for. Even indoors, Sandy Park can facilitate parties of 600 at a time which is no easy task. The surprise? The food that this team provides is beyond top notch.

We were lucky enough to meet the Head Chef Craig Beecham who just glowed with passion and drive to make some really good food. It was obvious to us that Craig really feels passionate about the quality of his food, ensuring that he uses fresh, local Devon produce. The team of chefs here provide some super-impressive culinary delights that can be tailored to suit absolutely any dietary requirements!

There are five bars across the stadium and each of them are brilliant in their own right, all can be hired out, as can all of the meeting spaces - for private dining. The private dining can be on any scale too, as we mentioned before, the top limit may be 600, but tiny board meetings of 10 will also be in for a carefully tailored treat when your event is at Sandy Park.

Of the bars, the one that impressed us the most was in Courtyard Exeter Sandy Park - the View Bar is the metaphorical, and also literal Jewel in the crown of the hotel. It’s a rooftop cocktail bar, together with a spectacular restaurant that boasts picturesque views down the River Exe Estuary and towards Torbay. This is an unbelievable space that just exudes class, wherever you look, you’ll be greeted with gorgeous vistas or fantastic furnishings, this was a really special room that blew us away!

The meeting spaces are where Sandy Park really comes into its own, with over twenty rooms to choose from, picking a meeting space highlight was a challenge to say the least. The team here offer Exclusive Room Rates and Packages for clients hosting Exhibitions at Sandy Park which makes it so easy to enjoy the very best hospitality in the South West!

The meeting spaces shine in this venue across their multiple stories within the stadium. The Exeter Suite and the County suite are located on the first floor, which are then followed by the Estuary, Chiefs and Baxter suites on the second floor. We loved the gorgeous inward looking views over the rugby pitch from the second floor spaces which really gives them something different to so many spaces.

Also on the second floor are a further 18 seminar suites which are perfect for smaller meetings or breakout spaces. The smaller rooms still feel homely and are well designed to meet the needs of your event - they also make private dining a treat!

Before we get onto the highlights, we also loved the capability for larger events being able to opt into having their registration in the main reception area, this goes without saying, but it’s a huge capable space that is perfect for those 300+ person events! Larger events can also use the North Turnstile Entrance. Now, how about some highlights…

MEETING SPACE HIGHLIGHT : EXETER SUITE
The largest suite in the stadium, the first floor Exeter Suite is the largest on site, with two private bars and a fully air conditioned space that is perfect for conferencing or awards shows. The team told us about all of the amazing events that have taken place in this space from, business exhibitions to charity gala events, as well as events put on by Sandy Park itself, including Comedy Nights, Ministry of Sound and in-house sporting events. We loved the team also utilising this space, sticking by their own to show off their capabilities! One of the most interesting and practical features of this suite is that it can be split into two rooms by a floor to ceiling partition wall. With each of these rooms being able to comfortably seat up to 390 guests. There are so many options with this division, from a traditional breakout zone, to drinks reception area, to a networking area

Location: First Floor in Main Building
Natural daylight: YES! Spacious light filled with floor to ceiling windows.
Room size: 674 Sq.m
Theatre style layout - 825
Cabaret style layout - 487
Dinner - 600
Drinks reception – 600
AV equipment is included: 4 Panasonic SOLID SHINE HD Laser projectors with 4.4m x 2.25m screens, 2 data projectors with 2.4m x 1.8m screens, 1 70” plasma TV, 3 60” plasma TVs and 1 37” plasma TV, PA system & microphones, vMix, Apple TV, IR Audio Hearing System, High-definition camera

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MEETING SPACE HIGHLIGHT : ESTUARY SUITE
The Second meeting space highlight is the second largest room at Sandy Park and is brilliant for larger private dinners or business conferences. There’s a lovely spacious feeling to this room that is complemented by a private bar that provides a relaxing space for hosting guests. Once again, the space has some stunning views across Sandy Park rugby pitch, as well as across to the Exe Estuary. And again, the room can be divided length-ways by one main moveable wall - we loved that the venue had implemented their philosophy of flexibility and practicality into every space. This clever solution wall allows for a total of six seminar suites which can accommodate a maximum of 15 people in each - a fantastic space providing breakouts or syndicate rooms. The room is also adorned with amazing rugby memorabilia across the walls!

Location: Second Floor in Main Building
Natural daylight: Yes, light filled, floor to ceiling windows w/ pitch views
Room size: 315 Sq.m
Theatre style layout - 327
Cabaret style layout - 219
Dinner - 340
Drinks reception - 500
AV equipment: Panasonic SOLID SHINE HD Laser Projector with 4m x 2.25m screen, In-built ceiling data projector with 2.4m x 1.8m screen, 4 plasma TV screens (1 x 75”, 1 x 60” 2 x 42”), Apple TV, vMix, PA system & microphones, IR Audio Hearing System

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MEETING SPACE HIGHLIGHT : BAXTER SUITE
When chatting to the team, we got the impression that the Baxter suite might just be one of their most popular spaces, thanks to its ability to combine a medium sized room with brilliant views and a more intimate setting. The Baxter Suite offers unrivalled views of our stadium grounds and across the scenic Devon Countryside which we just loved, on a sunny day, this is unbeatable! Positioned on the second floor, the Baxter Suite has a maximum capacity of 60 and is ideal for private dining or VIP drinks events thanks to a touch of class about the room!

Location: second floor in main building
Natural daylight: Yes, with pitch views
Room size: 75 Sq.m
Theatre style layout -60
Cabaret style layout - 30
Dinner - 40
Drinks reception - 60
AV equipment: PA system and microphones, 80” Plasma Screen TV with HDMI, VGA, 3.5mm audio connections, 1 Logitech PTZ HD Camera, 1 Logitech Group boardroom speaker and microphone system

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Summary
That just about covers everything for the Sandy Park stadium and its neighbouring hotel. What a great set of events facilities, we’d implore you to get down to Sandy Park on a matchday to really feel the kind of energy that this place can harbour - it’s a brilliant facility, not only for sport, but especially for conferences and events - go and check it out. We loved it!