Amenity Bookings

Pastrata provides conflict-free, self-service reservations for shared building amenities—such as party rooms, guest suites, moving elevators, barbecue patios, and conference facilities. Residents can view real-time availability, submit bookings, and manage reservations directly from web or mobile.

Required Roles & Capabilities

Access to these features depends on your building role and assigned capabilities:

Quickstart (Getting Started)

1. Navigate to Bookings in the sidebar or mobile navigation.
2. Browse the list of available amenities in your building.
3. Select an amenity to view its description, hours of operation, capacity, and deposit requirements.
4. Pick your desired date and start/end time slot on the booking calendar.
5. Review reservation terms, pay any applicable fee or deposit, and click Confirm Reservation.

Step-by-Step Guides

How to Reserve a Shared Facility or Moving Elevator

Reserve an amenity with conflict-free scheduling and automatic confirmation.

1. Go to Bookings and click on the amenity you wish to reserve (e.g., Elevator (Move-In/Move-Out)).
2. View available time slots. Unavailable or already reserved times are marked in gray.
3. Choose your date, start time, and reservation duration, and enter how many guests are coming. A booking can bring no more guests than the amenity holds.
4. If the amenity requires a security deposit or cleaning fee, provide your payment details.
5. Click Confirm Reservation. You will receive an instant email receipt and calendar invite.

Pro-Tip: Add the reservation to your Google, Apple, or Outlook calendar using the generated iCal link.

How to Modify or Cancel an Existing Reservation

Cancel your booking within your building’s permitted cancellation window for a full refund.

1. Go to Bookings and select My Reservations.
2. Locate your upcoming booking and click View Details.
3. Click Cancel Reservation.
4. Confirm your cancellation. If cancelled prior to the building’s cancellation cutoff, your deposit will be refunded automatically.

How to Configure Amenity Rules & Pricing (Managers & Council) (Property Managers & Council)

Set up new bookable spaces, define operating hours, booking buffers, and deposit amounts.

1. Navigate to Management > Amenities.
2. Click New Amenity.
3. Enter the amenity name, description, category, and capacity: the most guests a single booking may bring.
4. Specify opening/closing hours and minimum/maximum booking durations (e.g. 1 hour minimum, 4 hours maximum). Once hours are set, bookings outside them are refused, including those made through eConcierge.
5. Set the cleaning/turnover buffer time (e.g. 30 minutes between consecutive bookings).
6. Specify pricing: Free, Fixed Booking Fee, Hourly Rate, or Refundable Security Deposit.
7. Click Save Amenity to publish it to residents immediately.

Pro-Tip: Residents can only book an amenity with a fee or deposit once your building can take payments. Until then the form warns you, the amenity shows as Not bookable yet, and managers who handle payments get a Set up payments link.

How to Tag a Chore with a Task Type (Managers & Council) (Property Managers & Council)

Label recurring kinds of volunteer work—like garden maintenance or lobby cleaning—so they are easy to spot on the calendar.

1. Go to Calendar and create a new event, or edit an existing one.
2. Set the Category to Chore. A Task type picker appears.
3. Choose one of your building's task types, or No task type.
4. To add a new type, enter its name in New task type name and click Add. It is selected for the chore immediately and becomes available for future chores.
5. Save the event. In calendar subscriptions and the weekly digest, the chore title is prefixed with the task type (e.g. "Garden Maintenance: Weed the beds").

Pro-Tip: If a task type is archived, chores already tagged with it keep the tag. When you edit one of those chores, the picker shows Archived task type until you choose another.

How to Rename, Archive, or Restore Task Types (Managers & Council) (Property Managers & Council)

Clean up typos or retire task types your building no longer uses.

1. Go to Calendar and click Task types at the top of the page.
2. To rename a type or change its description, click the edit (pencil) icon next to it, make your changes, and click Save. The new name appears on every chore tagged with that type, including past ones.
3. To archive a type, click the archive icon next to it and confirm. It moves to the Archived list and is no longer offered when creating chores. Chores already tagged with it keep the tag.
4. To bring an archived type back, click Restore next to it in the Archived list.

Pro-Tip: Two active task types can't share the same name. If you rename or restore a type to a name that's already in use, you'll see a message and nothing changes—rename or archive the other type first.

How to See Scheduled Meetings on the Calendar

Your building's AGM, special general meetings and council meetings appear on the calendar on their scheduled date, so there is one place to look for what's coming up.

1. Go to Calendar. Dated meetings show under the Meeting category, at their scheduled time in your building's time zone.
2. Open a meeting to see its date and time, then choose View meeting to open it: register, read the agenda and motions, or join when it starts.

Pro-Tip: Meetings appear for verified members of buildings with meetings available. If a meeting is rescheduled or renamed, the calendar follows it; a cancelled meeting disappears.

Pro-Tip: A meeting is changed from the meeting itself, not from the calendar. It is also included in your calendar subscription (iCal) link.

How to Book Amenities and Manage Calendar Events with eConcierge

eConcierge can book and cancel amenities, add and change calendar events, and sign you up to volunteer. Nothing is booked or changed until you confirm.

1. Open eConcierge and say what you want, for example "Book the party room this Saturday from 6 to 10pm", "Cancel my guest suite booking for next weekend", "Add a potluck to the calendar on Sunday at 5pm in the lobby", "Sign me up for Saturday's garden cleanup" or "Remind me an hour before calendar events".
2. eConcierge checks when the amenity is free, or finds the event you mean, and shows a confirmation card naming the amenity or event with the date and time in your building's time zone, plus any fee, deposit or approval the booking needs.
3. Confirm to go ahead. It is the same as doing it yourself in Bookings or Calendar, with the same rules and permissions.

Pro-Tip: A paid booking is paid in the app: after you confirm, choose Complete payment to finish on the amenity page.

Pro-Tip: Managers can also ask eConcierge to set up an amenity, change its price, approval or hours, or stop it taking bookings. Approving bookings, deleting events, event attachments, task types and calendar subscription links stay in the app; eConcierge links you to the right screen.

Key Concepts & Building Policies

Turnover & Cleaning Buffers

Building managers can configure buffer windows between consecutive reservations. For example, a 30-minute buffer ensures maintenance staff can inspect and clean the party room before the next resident’s event begins.

Refundable Security Deposits

Deposits are held securely during the reservation period. Following the booking, building staff conduct a routine walkthrough. Once confirmed in good order, the deposit hold is released back to your original payment method.

Frequently Asked Questions & Troubleshooting

How far in advance can I book an amenity?

Each amenity defines a rolling advance booking window (typically 30 to 90 days ahead). Check the amenity details card for specific building rules.

Can tenants book amenities directly?

Yes. Verified tenants have full access to reserve shared spaces unless your building council has restricted specific amenities to owners.

Who can manage amenities, bookings, and calendar events?

By default, council and property management. Your building can give the Create and manage amenities or Create and manage calendar events permission to another role (such as concierge) or take it away from council, and Pastrata follows that setting everywhere: only roles holding the permission see amenity and booking management, can edit or delete anyone's calendar events, and can manage any event attachment. While amenity booking is turned off, the amenity management page only offers to turn it on, and only to roles that can edit building settings.

Can eConcierge book an amenity for me?

Yes. Ask it in plain words and it finds a free time, then shows a confirmation card with the amenity, the time in your building's time zone and any fee. Nothing is booked until you confirm, and a paid booking is paid in the app afterwards.

Why does an amenity say "Not bookable yet"?

It has a booking fee or deposit, and your building can't take payments yet. Residents see it but can't pick a time until a manager sets up payments for the building. Contact your building manager if you'd like to book it. The amenities list explains this above the amenities, and managers who handle payments see a Set up payments link there and on the amenity. An amenity's card also shows its refundable deposit, so a free amenity with a deposit reads, for example, "Free · $200.00 refundable deposit".

Can concierge see who has booked an amenity?

Yes. By default concierge, council, and property management hold the View all amenity bookings permission, which shows every booking in the building (including today's bookings on the concierge dashboard) without the ability to edit amenities or cancel other members' bookings. Your building can give this permission to other roles or take it away.

Related Guides

• Property Managers Hub
• Tenants & Residents Hub