Valsoyo hosts meetings, study days, residential seminars, kick-offs, end-of-year parties, shows and weddings for groups from about ten to 600 people. The estate has seven event rooms with daylight, 8 themed apartments and 5 unusual lodgings sleeping 54, set in a 7-hectare park. It lies at 130 Chemin des Sources in Upie, Drôme, 20 minutes southeast of Valence.
Seminars and company events
All rooms are modular, take daylight and have built-in sound and lighting, a screen and a video projector. Working kit includes wireless microphones, ClickShare, presenter remotes, flipcharts, notepads, pens and water. The team handles logistics, lunch and breaks, and can add a guest speaker, a themed day or a team challenge called the Valsoyade.
For residential seminars, the hotel's 8 apartments are decorated on travel themes (Japan, Canada, Finland, Greece, Mexico, Tibet, Morocco and Ireland), and the park adds trapper cabins, Finnish kotas and a gypsy caravan. For larger groups, lodges can be set up in the park. Outdoor activities around the 3,500 square meter lake include blowpipe shooting, an underground maze, recumbent bikes, rafts and footgolf.
Weddings and receptions
Three rooms serve weddings. Évasion takes up to 120 with a dance floor, Patio up to 170, and Boréal 150 to 300. Booking Boréal and Patio together gives 800 square meters for more than 300 guests, and adding Canopée, which opens onto Boréal, takes receptions of up to 600. A wedding coordinator suggests caterers, photographers, make-up artists, decorators and DJs. Furniture, a caterer's kitchen, ambient lighting and sound come with every package.
Rooms and capacities
Boréal, 450 to 1,000 square meters, has a timber roof frame, a modular stage of 10 by 7 meters, a 6 by 4 meter screen, a control room run from a tablet, a 65 square meter caterer's kitchen, cloakrooms and dressing rooms. It suits shows, vehicle displays and trade fairs. Patio, 300 square meters, has an indoor bar, a mezzanine and a 250 square meter semi-covered terrace with a second bar. Évasion, 160 square meters, is a former farm building with bay windows, a solid wood floor, a bar and a kitchen.
Canopée, 200 square meters and open on three sides, is designed for plenaries, with an 80 square meter annex. Taïga, 80 square meters, joins Canopée as a breakout room and has an 86-inch interactive screen with video conferencing. Upstairs, reached by lift, the Sources (70 square meters) and 3 Becs (80 square meters) lounges combine into a 175 square meter space, with a 90 square meter terrace.
Accommodation
The hotel, in a renovated stone farmhouse, has 8 themed apartments, and the park has 5 unusual lodgings, for 54 beds in total. Lodgings take one to six people depending on the category. Breakfast is a buffet in the hall. A pool and private parking are on site.
Catering
Each room has access to a caterer's kitchen. The team manages lunches and breaks for corporate days, and for weddings suggests a selection of caterers.
History and setting
The farm has belonged to the same family since the early 1800s. In 2002 Erick Valla, of the sixth generation, ended 30 years of egg farming and opened La Ferme aux Voyages, with a reception room and the themed apartments. The park and lake followed in 2011 on former farmland. In 2016 the old egg-packing center became the main event space.
Getting there
Valence TGV station is 25 minutes away by car. By TGV, Lyon is 45 minutes from Valence and Paris 2 hours 15. By road, Lyon is 1 hour 15 and Grenoble 1 hour 30.
