# Private sessions

> Offer private hire (sole use, whole-room booking) of any session from your normal calendar - no parallel schedule or duplicate sessions.

Who can do this: admins only.

Private hire isn't a separate kind of session. You add a **Private** [price](/docs/price-options) to a normal session, and when a customer buys it every [space](/docs/shared-capacity) 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](/docs/shared-capacity#one-session-every-way-to-book-it).

## 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](/docs/manage-bookings-customers). 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](/docs/cancellation-policy).

In your [Bookings](/go/admin/home) and check-in lists, a private hire shows an amber **Private hire** badge with a lock icon. On your booking page the date shows **Fully booked**, with no [waiting list](/docs/waiting-lists), until the hire is cancelled.

Lowering the booking's spaces or raising the session's capacity doesn't change that - [change it to a group price](#change-a-private-booking-to-a-group-price) instead.

## Change a private booking to a group price

If a hire only needs part of the session, such as one sauna of two, open the booking, select **Edit booking**, then **Change to a group price**. It keeps its customer and payment, takes that [group](/docs/group-bookings) price's spaces, and the rest of the session opens to others. Use **Refund** for any price difference.

## 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](/docs/check-in) 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

<Steps>
<Step>Open a session on the [Sessions page](/go/admin/sessions), find the **Prices** panel and select **Add a price**, then **Create new** (or pick one you already use from **Your prices**).</Step>
<Step>Name it, for example "Private hire", set the **Price** for the whole session and set **Price type** to **Private**.</Step>
<Step>Optionally set **Maximum guests**, then save.</Step>
</Steps>

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](/docs/instance-overrides).

## Book a private hire for a customer who has already paid

Use **Add booking** on the session and pick the private price under **Ticket**. See [add a booking](/docs/add-a-booking#book-a-private-hire-or-group-price).

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

If they haven't paid, 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:**

<Steps>
<Step>On the [Sessions page](/go/admin/sessions), create a new session. In **Prices**, remove the normal prices and add a private price at the agreed amount.</Step>
<Step>Schedule it as a [one-off](/docs/one-off-schedules) on the agreed date and time.</Step>
<Step>Set **Visibility** to **Direct link only** (see [session visibility](/docs/session-visibility)), save, and send the customer the **Session URL** from under **Visibility**.</Step>
<Step>[Hide](/docs/instance-overrides#hide-a-single-session) any normal sessions at the same time. Hiding doesn't move or cancel anyone already booked.</Step>
</Steps>

Don't also use **Add booking**, or they'd be booked twice. The booking appears in [Bookings](/go/admin/home) 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 whenever an upcoming session can still be booked privately.

## Give members a discount on private hire

A [membership](/docs/membership) can take a percentage off private hire, on its own or after the member's free sessions. To offer, say, 5 sessions a month, then 10% off further sessions and private hire:

<Steps>
<Step>On the membership, turn on **Free sessions** and set 5 per **Billing period**.</Step>
<Step>Turn on **Member rate** and set a **percentage discount** of 10%.</Step>
<Step>Tick **Apply to guests and private hire** and set **Spaces covered per booking** to **All spaces**.</Step>
</Steps>

Members book their first 5 sessions free, then get 10% off every booking after that, private hire included. A free session covers the member's own space only, so it can't be spent on a whole private hire. A fixed member price or an off-peak tier doesn't reach private hire.

## Common questions

1. **Which price gets the member discount?** The session's [default price](/docs/price-options), 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](/docs/gift-vouchers) 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](/docs/group-bookings) booking follows your normal policy; only private hire is venue-managed by default.