the question
The Pearl Residences ran padel, tennis, and squash bookings through a shared spreadsheet passed around on WhatsApp: updated every week, managed by hand every day.
the build
Residents book padel, tennis, and squash from their phone. Management sets booking rules once (daily and weekly limits, peak hours, cancellation windows) and the calendar enforces them. Guests are registered once with Emirates ID upload and approved once, covering all future bookings. Sign-in is a magic link, no passwords. Ten automated email flows, from guest approvals to a daily admin digest. Installable as an app on the phone.
what broke
The honest answer for now: it hasn't met real residents yet. Testing already caught one thing worth recording. Two bookings could land on the same slot during a sync gap, so the rule moved into the database itself, which now refuses a second active booking on any slot. Zero double bookings possible, by construction.
where it stands
Built and in testing at The Pearl Residences, Saadiyat Island. Not handed over yet. The system already outgrew its single client: it runs as Slotcore, a white-label product with its own landing page, where each property gets its own branded deployment. This entry gets updated when residents have had a full season on it.
the finding
One database constraint ended double bookings for good. Most admin headaches are one well-placed rule away from disappearing.
screens
