Setting Up Facility Booking

If your club manages courts, tables, or practice rooms, ServeLeague's facility booking system lets members reserve time slots online. No more spreadsheet sign-ups or whiteboard schedules. Members can see availability, book a slot, and check in when they arrive, all from their phone.

This tutorial walks you through setting up locations, adding facilities, configuring availability, and managing bookings.

[!NOTE] Facility booking requires the Pro plan or higher. If you do not see Booking in your sidebar, check that the feature is enabled in your club Settings.

Step 1: Open the Booking Admin

From your club admin dashboard, click "Venues" in the sidebar. This is the admin area where you create and manage locations and facilities.

Booking admin page showing facilities, schedules, and pricing tabs

Step 2: Create a Location

A location represents a physical venue where your club operates, such as a community centre, sports hall, or dedicated club space.

Click "Add Location" and fill in:

  • Name: a recognisable label like "Main Hall" or "Eastside Community Centre"
  • Address: the full street address. This helps members find the venue.
  • Notes (optional): useful information like parking details, access codes, or building entry instructions

Facility booking page with Table 1 and Table 2 listed under Main Hall

[!TIP] If your club plays at multiple venues, create a location for each one. Facilities are grouped under their location, so members can filter by where they want to play.

Step 3: Add Facilities

Facilities are the individual bookable resources within a location. These are the things members actually reserve: tables, courts, rooms, etc.

Click "Add Facility" within your location and fill in:

  • Name: a specific identifier like "Table 1", "Court A", or "Practice Room"
  • Type: the category of facility. Choose from:
    • Table: for table tennis, pool, or similar
    • Court: for badminton, tennis, squash, etc.
    • Room: for meeting rooms or multi-purpose spaces
    • Field: for outdoor pitches
    • Lane: for bowling or swimming lanes
    • Other: for anything else
  • Capacity: the maximum number of players at once (e.g., 2 for a singles table, 4 for a doubles court)
  • Description (optional): additional details like equipment type ("Competition-grade Butterfly table")
  • Venue: which location this facility belongs to
  • Resource #: links to a physical table resource for league scheduling integration

Edit Facility form showing name, type, capacity, and description fields

Add as many facilities as your venue has. Each one gets its own booking calendar.

[!NOTE] You can mark facilities as Active or Inactive. Inactive facilities do not appear in the booking calendar. Use this when a table is temporarily out of service for maintenance.

Step 4: Set Up Availability Schedules

Facilities are not bookable around the clock. You need to define when each facility is available for booking.

Click on a facility and go to the "Schedule" section. Set up availability windows for each day of the week:

  • Day of week: which day this schedule applies to (Monday through Sunday)
  • Open time: when the facility becomes available (e.g., 6:00 PM)
  • Close time: when the facility closes for the day (e.g., 10:00 PM)
  • Slot duration (minutes): how long each bookable slot is. Enter any number of minutes (for example, 30, 45, 60, or 90). Shorter slots give more flexibility but create more bookings to manage.
  • Is available: turn this on or off for each day. Days marked as unavailable do not show any slots in the booking calendar.

Availability schedule showing day-by-day time windows with open/close times, slot duration, and availability toggles

For example, a typical club might configure:

  • Weekdays: 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM with 60-minute slots
  • Weekends: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM with 45-minute slots

[!NOTE] You can create different schedules for different facilities. A competition table might have longer slots than a practice table.

Step 5: Configure Booking Rules

Fine-tune how members can book by setting booking configurations. These let you define pricing and policies for different time windows.

For each booking configuration, set:

  • Name: a label like "Weekday evening" or "Weekend peak"
  • Day of week (optional): restrict this config to a specific day, or leave blank for all days
  • Start / End time: the time window this config applies to (e.g., 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM)
  • Price: the per-slot booking fee (entered in cents, e.g., 500 = $5.00)
  • Is peak: flag for peak-hour pricing. Peak slots can be styled differently in the calendar.
  • Max advance booking days: how far ahead members can book (e.g., 7 days, 14 days)
  • Cancellation window (minutes): how close to the slot a booking can be cancelled (e.g., 120 = 2 hours before)

Pricing tab showing per-slot price, advance booking, and cancellation settings

[!TIP] Create separate booking configs for peak and off-peak times. Charge a higher rate during popular evening slots to manage demand, and keep daytime rates lower to encourage usage during quieter periods.

Step 6: How Members Book Facilities

Once your facilities are set up, members can book through the club's Booking page. This is part of the player self-service experience.

Members see a calendar view showing available slots across all facilities at a location:

  1. Select a location: if your club has multiple venues, choose which one
  2. Pick a facility: select the table, court, or room they want
  3. Choose a time slot: available slots are shown in green, booked slots are greyed out
  4. Click "Book": the slot is reserved and a confirmation is sent

Facility booking calendar with available and reserved time slots

Members can view and manage their upcoming bookings from their personal dashboard. They can also cancel bookings up until the cancellation window closes.

[!NOTE] Members with higher-tier memberships may get more advance booking days and fee discounts. These are controlled by the membership type's privileges (see Managing Memberships and Payments).

Step 7: Manage Bookings as Admin

As an admin, you have full visibility and control from the booking admin area:

  • View all bookings: see who has booked what, and when
  • Cancel bookings: free up slots if needed
  • Block slots: mark slots as unavailable for maintenance or league sessions
  • Waitlists: enable waitlists so members get notified automatically when a cancellation opens up a slot they want

Admin booking management with slot overview and controls

Step 8: Track Check-In and Utilisation

Members can check in on arrival through the dedicated check-in page (or via a kiosk display at your venue). This confirms attendance and gives you data on actual facility usage.

Use the Utilisation dashboard to analyse booking patterns:

  • Which facilities are most popular
  • Peak vs off-peak usage rates
  • No-show rates (booked but did not check in)
  • Revenue from facility fees

[!TIP] If slots are consistently booked but unattended, consider tightening your cancellation window or adding a no-show policy. The utilisation data helps you make these decisions.

Summary

You have set up facility booking for your club. Here is what you accomplished:

  • Created a location to represent your venue
  • Added facilities (tables, courts, rooms) with type, capacity, and descriptions
  • Configured availability schedules with day-by-day time windows
  • Set up booking rules with pricing, advance booking limits, and cancellation policies
  • Enabled member self-service booking through the calendar
  • Set up admin management with waitlists and check-in tracking

Your members can now reserve time slots online, and you have full visibility into booking patterns and facility usage.

Next steps:

  • Managing Memberships and Payments: membership privileges control booking access and discounts
  • Adding Members to Your Club: members need to be in the club to book
  • Embedding Widgets on Your Website: embed a live booking calendar on your external website
  • Kiosk Mode and Public Display: set up a check-in kiosk at your venue