Manage availability and avoid double-bookings

Set opening hours and closures for the venue and each space, and see conflicts before you promise a date: inquiry, creation, event page, calendar.

Updated October 27, 2026

For a venue, the worst mistake is promising a date that is already taken, or a room that is closed that day. Joinways shows what holds each venue and each space, and lets you set your opening hours and closure periods, for the whole venue or room by room.

Joinways does not decide for you: it checks the date from the incoming inquiry, then when the event is created, on its page and when you move it on the calendar. It shows you the conflicts; you decide whether to confirm.

What you'll learn

Set a venue's opening hours and out-of-hours policy.
Add a closure for the whole venue or for some spaces.
Give a space its own hours and closures.
Read the "Available" or "1 conflict" badge on an inquiry, and the conflict alerts on an event.
Know when two events conflict.

Prerequisites

A venue's settings (hours, closures, spaces) are reserved to the workspace's owners and admins.
Every member sees the calendar, the availability badges and the conflict alerts.
To set a space apart, it must exist: see Create your spaces.

1. Open the venue's "Availability" page

In the left menu, open "Venues", then your venue ("My venue" if your workspace has only one), then "Availability". You can also get there from "Settings" > "Venues". The page has four blocks: "Out-of-hours policy", "Opening hours", "Closure periods" and "School holidays".

A venue's Availability page: out-of-hours policy with the soft warning on, then opening hours from Monday to Sunday. — The "Availability" page: out-of-hours policy and the typical week.

Good to know: the "This venue is only rented whole" setting is no longer on this page. It sits at the top of "Venue & spaces", because it says whether spaces are booked separately.

2. Set the opening hours

In "Opening hours", turn each day on or off. A day turned off shows "Closed": this is how you set a weekly day off.
On an open day, "Add time range" limits its hours. You can add several ranges per day (lunch and dinner, for example). With no range, the day is open without restriction.
The "Quick setup" menu offers "Templates", "Copy Monday → weekdays" and "Clear all".
In "Out-of-hours policy", pick "Soft warning" (a message shows, the event can still be created) or "Block creation" (the confirm button stays disabled while the date falls on a closed day, outside hours or during a closure).

With "Block creation", Joinways also refuses to move or duplicate an event onto a closed period, and bookings made through the API or MCP. For a multi-day stay whose end time is before its start time (arrival Monday 14:00, departure Wednesday 11:00), only the arrival and departure are checked against opening hours; the days in between are only checked against closures.

3. Close dates

Holidays, works, private use: add these dates as closure periods. They show hatched on the calendar and when an event is created.

In "Closure periods", click "Add closure".
Pick the date range (future dates only).
Under "Applies to", keep "Whole venue" or pick one or several spaces: the closure then only applies to them.
Give it an optional label ("Summer break", "Kitchen works"). Turn on "Specific time slot" to close only part of the day.
Click "Add".

The New closure window: date calendar, Applies to choice between the whole venue and its rooms, optional label and specific time slot. — "New closure": close the whole venue or only some spaces.

The venue's list also shows its spaces' closures, with the names of the spaces concerned (grouped when they are identical). To delete a closure, click the trash icon on its row; "Undo" stays available for a few seconds. Past closures show with "Show past closures".

Important: a closure does not hold a date for a client. To keep a date while a client decides, create the event as a "Hold": it shows dotted and keeps the whole record.

4. Give a space its own hours and closures

By default, a space follows its venue's hours and closures. For a room that closes earlier or a rooftop closed in winter, open "Venue & spaces", click the space's row, then the "Availability" tab.

"Opening hours" shows "Same as" followed by the venue name. "Customize" copies the venue's hours so you can change them; "Use the venue's hours" goes back to the shared setting.
"Closure periods" lists the space's own closures, on top of the venue's. Turn off "Also apply the venue's closures" to keep the space open during the venue's closures.
The space has no out-of-hours policy of its own: the venue's applies.

On the "Venue & spaces" list, a chip flags a space with "Own hours", an upcoming closure ("Closed" followed by the dates) or one that stays "Open during venue closures". Click it to open the right tab.

5. Check a date before you answer

The same check follows you from the inquiry to the confirmed event.

In "Inquiries": next to the extracted date, an "Available" or "1 conflict" badge shows when the venue and a precise date are known. It takes the requested days, hours and spaces into account. Hover it to read the conflicting events. It disappears once the event is created.
When creating the event: as soon as the venue, dates and spaces are picked, the form lists the "Hold" and "Confirmed" events that use the same spaces on the same dates, with their client and owner (for example "2 events found at this venue on the same date"). It also flags a closed day, a date outside hours or a closure.
On the event page: under the properties, a "Conflicts with" line names each confirmed event that holds the same rooms at the same time, with its date; click to open it. Several holds on one date are normal practice and are not listed here.
On the calendar: a red outline flags a double booking with a confirmed event. A move with no risk is saved straight away; otherwise, the confirmation window lists the overlaps.

A film shoot inquiry: the extracted date of 9 October carries the 1 conflict badge in the properties. — The availability badge next to an inquiry's extracted date.

When do two events conflict?

The same rule applies everywhere: inquiry, creation form, event page, calendar, API and MCP. Only "Hold" and "Confirmed" events count.

An event with no space picked takes the whole venue: it conflicts with any other event at the venue at the same time.
Two events that each have their spaces only conflict if they share a space. A combination counts for the spaces it joins.
With slots, the comparison is by the hour: two slots in the same room that do not overlap do not conflict. The space's set-up and tear-down are added before and after each slot.
An event with different hours each day is compared day by day, on each day's hours.
At a venue set to "This venue is only rented whole", every event takes the whole venue for its hours, whatever the spaces.

Example: two weddings on the same Saturday

An estate receives two wedding inquiries for the same Saturday in June. In "Inquiries", the second one carries the "1 conflict" badge: the barn is already on hold. Instead of saying no, the manager offers the orangery, free that day.

She creates the event on the orangery: the form lists no conflict. The same month, she closes the garden from 1 to 15 July for landscaping, picking only the garden under "Applies to": the barn and the orangery stay on sale.

Troubleshooting

A date shows as closed although no event exists

Cause: a closure period covers that date, or the day is "Closed" in the opening hours; for a space, the closure can come from the venue. Solution: open the venue's or the space's "Availability", delete the closure or reopen the day. For a space, turn off "Also apply the venue's closures" if needed.

The form lists an event that does not use the same room

Cause: that event has no space picked and takes the whole venue, or it books a combination that includes your room, or the venue is only rented whole. Solution: on that event, pick the spaces it really uses.

No "Available" badge on an inquiry

Cause: the venue is not recognized, the date is not precise, or the event already exists. Solution: correct the venue and date in the extracted data; the check then happens when you create the event.

I can't create an event on a date

Cause: the venue's policy is "Block creation" and the date falls during a closure or outside hours. Solution: change the date or time, delete the closure, or switch the policy back to "Soft warning".

Frequently asked questions

Does Joinways prevent double bookings?

Not between two events: it flags them at every step and you decide. For closures and hours, the "Block creation" policy prevents creating an event while the venue is closed.

Can I close a single room?

Yes. In "New closure", pick the space under "Applies to", or add the closure from the space's "Availability" tab.

Do public holidays close the venue?

No. They are marked in amber on the calendar, based on the venue's country, but close nothing. If you do not open that day, add a closure period.

Can the whole team see a closure?

Yes. It shows on the calendar for every member. If the venue syncs a Google or Outlook calendar, the "Closure periods" option in "Synchronization" sends it there as a busy slot.