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Let's talk about something that's quietly ruining events across the country: minimum booking requirements that make absolutely no sense.
You need a space for two hours. Maybe it's a workshop, a small birthday gathering, a client meeting, or a creative session. You find a place that's perfect. Then you see the policy: eight hour minimum, $1,200 base rate, non-refundable deposit due upfront.
For two hours of space.
You don't need eight hours. You don't have $1,200 to drop on a venue. And you're definitely not putting down a non-refundable deposit before you've even walked through the door. So you move on, frustrated, and the venue stays empty that day anyway.
Nobody wins.
The Minimum Trap
High minimums made sense in a different era. When booking systems were manual, when marketing was expensive, when venues had no way to fill scattered hourly slots, it made sense to require day-long commitments. The overhead of managing bookings meant owners needed big reservations to make it worthwhile.
But that was before online booking platforms existed. Before renters could search, browse, and book spaces in minutes. Before owners could list availability in real time and fill their calendars with back-to-back hourly reservations instead of hoping for one massive booking per day.
The infrastructure changed. The industry didn't.
Now we're stuck with policies designed for a world that doesn't exist anymore. Venues keep their minimums high because "that's how it's always been done." Renters keep getting priced out of spaces they actually need. And an entire category of events, gatherings, workshops, and creative sessions just… doesn't happen. Because the barrier to entry is artificially inflated.
What Hourly Booking Actually Unlocks
Spotz was built around a simple idea: let people rent spaces for the time they actually need, at prices that make sense for what they're using.
Hourly booking without day-long minimums means you can host a three-hour workshop without paying for ten. You can book a private pool for an afternoon without committing to a full day rental. You can reserve a photography studio for a two-hour shoot without pretending you need it from 9am to 5pm.
This changes what's possible.
Suddenly, events that weren't financially viable before become completely doable. A small business can afford to host a pop-up. A fitness instructor can rent a private gym for a single class. A friend group can book a chef's kitchen for a cooking night without breaking the bank. A creative can access a professional studio for a quick project instead of settling for their living room.
It's not just about saving money (though you absolutely do). It's about removing artificial barriers that were keeping people from using incredible spaces that were sitting empty anyway.
The Deposit Disaster
Let's talk about deposits while we're at it, because this is another policy that's completely out of control.
Venues ask for non-refundable deposits before you've even confirmed the space works for your needs. Sometimes it's hundreds of dollars. Sometimes it's a percentage of a total cost you're not even sure about yet because the pricing isn't transparent. And if something changes, if your plans shift, if the venue doesn't actually match what you expected, that money is gone.
Spotz doesn't play that game. You book online, you pay for what you use, and you're not putting money at risk before you've even shown up.
This isn't about being renter-friendly at the expense of venue owners. It's about building a system that works for both sides. Owners get consistent bookings and reliable income without chasing deposits. Renters get access without financial risk. Everyone benefits when the friction disappears.
Hidden Fees Are the Final Insult
You think you've found a space that fits your budget. Then you get to checkout and there's a cleaning fee. A service fee. A coordination fee. A processing fee. Suddenly that $200 space costs $310 and you're wondering what you even agreed to.
Spotz pricing is completely transparent. The hourly rate you see is what you pay, period. No surprise charges at the end. No hidden line items that magically appear after you've committed.
If you're booking a space for $150, you're paying $150. If it's $75 an hour for three hours, your total is $225. You know exactly what you're spending before you click confirm, and that number doesn't change.
This seems obvious, right? Like the bare minimum of how pricing should work? But in the venue rental world, it's somehow revolutionary. We think that's ridiculous. Transparency shouldn't be a luxury feature, it should be the standard.
Community Spaces Should Be Accessible
Here's what all of this comes back to: when venue rental is complicated, expensive, and full of barriers, fewer gatherings happen. Fewer workshops get hosted. Fewer creative projects come to life. Fewer small businesses can afford to do pop-ups or events. Fewer communities come together in the physical spaces that already exist around them.
That's a loss. Not just for the individuals who can't access these spaces, but for entire neighborhoods that miss out on the connection, creativity, and collaboration those gatherings create.
Spotz exists to fix this. We're making it easier to find spaces, simpler to book them, and more affordable to actually use them. Because when community spaces are accessible, communities get stronger. When barriers disappear, more people show up. When the process works the way it should, incredible things happen in the spaces that were sitting empty before.
We're not just a booking platform. We're infrastructure for stronger, more connected communities. And that starts with getting rid of the policies that were keeping people out in the first place.
Try It With $100 Back
We want your first booking on Spotz to be as easy as possible, so we're offering Amazon gift cards on all new reservations. Book a space between $100 and $199 and get $50 back. Book $200 or more and get $100 back.
No minimums. No deposits. No hidden fees. Just transparent hourly pricing on spaces that actually fit what you need, with money back to make it even better.
Head to go.findspotz.com/promo-amazon to find your space and claim your gift card. It's time venue rental worked the way it should. Let's make it happen.