How to set up online bookings in 3rdSpace

Online bookings are usually the first thing a venue wants live, and they should be quick to set up. In 3rdSpace, bookings live in the Bookings tool inside the Operations Suite, and they share one customer record with the rest of the platform. That means a reservation is not just a slot on a calendar. It is a guest in your CRM, ready to be recognized the next time they come in.

This guide walks through getting bookings live, then layering on deposits and reminders once the basics work. It is a living document, so we update it as the tool gains capabilities.

What can you take bookings for?

Bookings in 3rdSpace are deliberately flexible, because a "booking" means something different in every room. A restaurant books tables. A bowling alley books lanes and birthday parties. An escape room books timed slots. A salon books a chair by stylist. A mobile provider books a job at the customer's address. You define the bookable thing, the hours it is available, and how many can run at once.

Before you start, it helps to answer three questions:

1. What are you renting time on? Tables, lanes, rooms, chairs, equipment, or your own time.
2. How long is a standard slot, and how many can overlap?
3. Do you want money up front, or is booking free to reserve?

You do not need final answers to begin. You can publish a simple version today and refine it as real bookings come in.

Step one: create your first bookable space

Open the Bookings tool and add a bookable space. Give it a clear public name (the words a customer will read), set its capacity, and set the window of time it is available. If you run more than one location, bookings are scoped per location, so each room only shows its own availability.

Keep your first space simple. One table type, or one room, or one service. The goal of the first pass is to confirm the flow end to end: a customer picks a time, you see it land, and it appears on your Calendar.

Step two: set your hours and slot rules

Next, define when the space can be booked and how slots behave. You can set the slot length, buffer time between bookings, and a cap on how many run concurrently. For timed experiences like escape rooms or jump slots, the cap prevents overlaps that your staff cannot actually serve. For tables, concurrency reflects how many you can seat at once.

This is also where you decide how far in advance people can book and how late. Closing bookings a set number of hours before the slot gives your team time to prepare and still leaves room for walk-ins.

Step three: decide on deposits

Deposits are optional, and they are the single biggest lever on no-shows for higher-value bookings. If you want one, turn it on per space and set the amount. Deposits are collected through your connected payment account at the moment of booking.

A few honest notes on the money side:

• 3rdSpace charges a percentage-only service fee on deposits taken through the platform, with no flat fee.
• If the remaining balance is paid in person or outside 3rdSpace, no fee applies to that portion.
• Whether to require a deposit is a judgment call. Casual reservations often do better without friction; private parties, large groups, and timed experiences usually justify one.

Step four: publish the booking page and share the link

Once your space, hours, and deposit rules are set, publish. You get a booking page you can link from your website, your social profiles, your Business Profile listings, and a QR code for the counter or table tent using the QR Code Generator.

Worth repeating, because it is a common question: your customers do not need the 3rdSpace app to book. The booking page is an ordinary web page. The future 3rdSpace consumer app is about discovery, helping people find places to go, and it never sits between you and a booking.

Step five: turn on reminders and connect the Calendar

Bookings automatically appear on the shared Calendar alongside events and staff schedules, so nobody has to reconcile three systems. From there, the highest-value add-on is automated reminders.

If you have the SMS System or Email System available on your plan, send a confirmation at the time of booking and a reminder 24 to 48 hours before the slot. Industry data on reservations is consistent: a timely reminder with an easy cancel link, combined with a deposit on the bookings that warrant one, is the most reliable way to keep tables and slots from going empty.

Putting it together

A good booking setup is rarely about one perfect configuration. It is the basics working first, then deposits where they earn their keep, then reminders to protect the slots you have sold. Because every booking writes back to one customer record, the work compounds: the people who book become the people you recognize, market to, and keep.

When you are ready, the Bookings tool is included from the Core plan, so you can start free and turn it on whenever your room is ready for it.