Located at the doorstep of the hotel, guests of Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park have unrivaled access to the beautiful Hyde Park. Named after its equivalent in The United Kingdom, Sydney's own Hyde Park is a 40-acre fig-lined park where locals and visitors alike congregate under the shade of the fig trees. Throughout its long history, the park has played host to a wide range of sporting activities, until its transformation into public gardens in 1856. Prior to the construction of the 'Bellevue' in 1825, Hyde Park played host to number of Sydney's most famous horse-racing meetings, including the first official horse race in October 1810, where officer of the 73rd Regiment raced around a makeshift course in the park. Cricket was played in the park up until the 1850s, when a series of on-going issues with other visitors of the park, forced cricket matches to be switched to the Domain. Rugby has also moved away to a permanent home in Sydney Cricket Ground.