Separate the destination from the thing people book
In Placly, a venue is the physical destination and a space is the room, hall, court or ground a customer reserves. That distinction sounds small, but it keeps your setup understandable as the operation grows. Put shared location details on the venue: the address, arrival context and information that applies to the whole site. Put capacity, photos, pricing and booking rules on each space.
This lets two spaces at one address behave differently without forcing staff to explain exceptions. A main hall might need review before it is confirmed, while a meeting room at the same venue can follow a different booking flow. Each space can also carry its own opening hours, closures, facilities and price.
Place each rule where it changes
Use inheritance for policies that are genuinely shared. Placly resolves booking flow from the organisation default, then a venue override, then a space override. Leave a lower level alone when it should inherit; add an override only when that venue or space needs different treatment. This is easier to maintain than copying the same choice onto every record.
Apply the same test to availability and pricing: if the rule changes what customers can choose or what they pay for one space, define it there. Facilities can be free, optional paid extras or mandatory additions. Prices can be flat, hourly or daily, with customer-type differences where your operation uses them.
A concrete example
Imagine Riverside Centre has a hall and a committee room. Both share the same address. The hall holds 120 people, closes on Tuesday mornings and requires approval. The committee room holds 12 and follows the venue’s normal booking flow. Model Riverside Centre once as the venue, then create two spaces. The customer sees the right capacity, availability and next step for the room they actually chose.
Check the first space before adding the rest
Treat your first space as a reference setup, not a rush to publish. Walk through it as a customer and correct the language or rules while there is only one record to change. Once it reads cleanly, repeat that pattern for similar spaces and change only the real differences.
- Venue name, address and shared arrival information are accurate.
- Each bookable space has its own capacity, photos and clear description.
- Opening hours, closures and facilities match how that space is operated.
- The effective booking flow says exactly whether review or payment comes next.
- A test booking shows the expected price, availability and confirmation language.