Scribe Bookings is designed to offer flexible booking options, but it does not currently support linked availability between whole venues and individual spaces — meaning it cannot automatically prevent a whole venue from being booked if individual rooms are already reserved, and vice versa.

However, there is a reliable and effective workaround that many councils use successfully. This article explains how to set it up.

Scenario

Let’s say you have a venue called Abbey Hall, which contains the following spaces:

• Grand Hall

• Conference Room

• Meeting Room

• Council Chambers

• Cafeteria

• Lobby

You want customers to be able to:

• Book individual rooms through the public booking page (self-service)

• Enquire about booking the entire Abbey Hall as one space (manually reviewed)

Step-by-Step Setup

✅ Step 1: Set up all individual rooms as normal venues

1. Navigate to Setup → Venues.

2. Create a venue record for each room (e.g. Grand Hall, Conference Room, etc.).

3. Set availability, services, fees, and allow online payments if desired.

4. These rooms can be booked directly by customers using the public booking page.

✅ Step 2: Create a venue record for the full building (e.g. “Abbey Hall”)

1. Still in Setup → Venues, add a new venue called Abbey Hall.

2. In the Online Booking Settings, set this venue to “Enquiry Only”.

   • This prevents it from blocking calendar slots and avoids booking clashes.

3. Go to the Fee Groups and set up any fees associated with hiring the full venue (optional, but helps manage expectations).

✅ Step 3: Handle full venue booking enquiries manually

1. When a customer submits an enquiry for Abbey Hall, you’ll receive it under Enquiries.

2. Navigate to Calendar or Bookings and check whether any of the individual rooms are booked at that time (you can use filters to make this easy).

3. If all rooms are free, you can:

   • Manually create a confirmed booking for Abbey Hall under Bookings

   • Delete the original enquiry

4. If one or more rooms are already booked, politely decline or suggest alternative dates.

🔐 Tip: Prevent last-minute full venue enquiries

To reduce the risk of customer disappointment (e.g. when an enquiry is made but space is not available), it’s wise to only allow whole venue enquiries far in advance.

Here’s how:

1. Navigate to Setup → Venues.

2. Edit Abbey Hall.

3. Under Booking Settings, set “Minimum time in advance a booking can be made ” — e.g. 1 week

   • This means customers can only submit an enquiry at least 1 week ahead

   • It gives you enough time to assess availability and reduces overlap with short-notice individual bookings.

💡 Why this is best practice

• Smaller room bookings can flow through the system quickly and automatically, giving customers a smooth experience.

• Large bookings, like weddings or major events, typically require staff input and coordination anyway — managing them via enquiry gives you control.

• This setup reduces clashes and keeps your calendar organised while maintaining flexibility.

Summary

By using this method, you’ll have the best of both worlds: smooth automated bookings for everyday use, and a clear process for larger events that need oversight.

If you’d like help setting this up, don’t hesitate to reach out via Help and Training → Training.