Private sessions

Private hire isn't a separate kind of session. You add a Private price to a normal session, and when a customer buys it every space in that session is reserved for them. The communal prices then disappear from that date.

Don't create a separate private session at the same time as a communal one - the two would have separate spaces, so the room could be booked twice. See how sessions, spaces and prices fit together.

How private hire works

A private booking is venue-managed by default: only you and your staff can change or cancel it, and customers are asked to contact you. To let customers cancel or move their own private hire, open the private price's Changes & cancellations section and choose Custom - see setting different rules for a single price.

In your Bookings and check-in lists, a private hire shows an amber Private hire badge with a lock icon. On your booking page the date shows Not available, with no waiting list, until the hire is cancelled.

How many are coming

A How many of you? picker records the party size. It never changes the price or the spaces, but tells your team how many to expect and sets how many waivers go out. The party size appears on the confirmation, the customer's email and your new-booking notification.

The picker caps at the private price's Maximum guests and starts pre-filled to it. Leave it blank to use the session capacity, or set it higher or lower. While a customer has a private price selected, the booking page hides the session's spaces-left count, since the hire takes the whole session and the group can be larger than its capacity. If a private session's capacity is 1, set Maximum guests too, or customers can only book for 1 guest.

To charge by group size, add one private price per size, such as "1 person" at £35 up to "4 person" at £70, with Maximum guests to match.

Add a private hire price

1. 1
   Open a session on the Sessions page, find the Prices panel and select Add a price, then Create new (or Copy from a session).
2. 2
   Name it, for example "Private hire", set the Price for the whole session and set Price type to Private.
3. 3
   Optionally set Maximum guests, then save.

To stop offering private hire, remove the private price. To charge a different private price on one date, change it in that date's Prices section - see override a single session.

Book a private hire for a customer and send them a payment link

When someone asks for a private session by phone or message, send a link so they book and pay themselves.

The time is already on your calendar. Open your booking page, select the Private hire filter, pick the date and time, and send the address from your browser.

A custom time, length or price:

1. 1
   On the Sessions page, create a new session. In Prices, remove the normal prices and add a private price at the agreed amount.
2. 2
   Schedule it as a one-off on the agreed date and time.
3. 3
   Set Visibility to Direct link only (see session visibility), save, and send the customer the Session URL from under Visibility.
4. 4
   Hide any normal sessions at the same time. Check they have no bookings first, because hiding doesn't move or cancel anyone already booked.

Don't also use Add booking: it doesn't take payment, so the customer would be booked twice. The booking appears in Bookings when they pay.

The "Private hire" calendar filter

When your sessions offer a private price, customers get a Private hire filter on your booking page. It hides every session that can't currently be booked privately, such as one with a communal booking. It appears automatically whenever at least one upcoming session can still be booked privately, including before you've taken any bookings.

Common questions

1. Which price gets the member discount? The session's default price, the one with Use as the default price turned on. Set your standard rate as the default rather than the private one.

2. Can I sell a private hire as a gift? Yes. Create a session gift voucher and set Covers to A private hire. It covers the whole hire wherever it's booked, even if private hire prices differ between locations.

3. Why can't customers see the private price on a date that has bookings? Once anyone has booked a communal space on a date, private hire is no longer offered there.

4. Can a group booking be cancelled online when private hire can't? Yes. A group booking follows your normal policy; only private hire is venue-managed by default.