> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kitospace.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Inventory Pools

> Group interchangeable units into an inventory pool so they share one rate plan, can substitute for each other, and sell from a shared availability count.

## What is an inventory pool?

An **inventory pool** is a named group of units a guest can book interchangeably — three identical doubles, say, or a row of near-identical studios. Price the pool once and every unit in it inherits that price.

Pools live under **Units → Inventory Pools** in the sidebar. A pool has a name and a description; everything else about it comes from the units inside it.

## Why use pools?

* **Shared pricing** — one rate plan covers the whole group instead of a copy per room.
* **Substitution** — any unit in the pool can satisfy a booking, so a maintenance problem in one room does not cancel a stay.
* **Grouped availability** — the pool sells from a shared count rather than from one room's calendar.

Pools are optional. A unit that should never be handed out interchangeably — a VIP suite, a one-off apartment — stays **Standalone**.

## How do I create a pool and add units?

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Inventory Pools">
    Go to **Units → Inventory Pools** in the sidebar.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create the pool">
    Click **New inventory pool**, give it a name and an optional description, then click **Create**.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assign units">
    Open each unit's settings page and use its **Inventory pool** card to pick the pool. Choose **Standalone (never pooled)** to take a unit back out.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Membership is set on the unit, not on the pool. The pool's **Member units** section lists what belongs to it and is read-only — it shows each member's name and whether it is currently bookable.
</Note>

## How does pool booking differ from booking a specific unit?

A reservation can target a pool instead of one room. The guest books "a double", the stay is confirmed, and a specific unit is picked closer to arrival. Until then the booking shows as **Unassigned** on the **Calendar** and you can assign a room from the reservation.

Availability for a pool on any date is the number of bookable units in it, minus the pool bookings that have not been assigned a room yet, minus the units already blocked by a specific reservation or by maintenance. Booking a specific unit is the alternative: the reservation is locked to that room from the moment it is created.

## How do pools relate to rate plans?

A rate plan prices exactly one target — one pool, or one unit. Put units that share a price in a pool and price the pool once. Then give a single unit its own plan only where it genuinely differs; a unit plan takes priority over the pool plan for that unit.

A pool with no units in it prices nothing. A pool only prices what belongs to it.

## Distribution

If you sell through connected channels, one member of the pool acts as its **representative** — the room whose photos and content are used for the whole group's listing. You can change which unit that is from the pool page.

<Warning>
  Archiving a pool removes it from every picker and makes its units standalone again; they keep their own rates. A pool that is currently live on a channel cannot be archived until it is withdrawn.
</Warning>

## Common use cases

* **A block of identical rooms** — pool them, price once, let the front desk assign rooms on arrival day.
* **Apartments let individually** — still worth pooling for one shared rate plan, even though each has its own listing.
* **One premium exception** — keep the suite standalone, or pool it and give it its own rate plan.

## Related

* [Rate Plans](/docs/units/rate-plans)
* [Reservations](/docs/reservations/overview)
* [Creating & Managing Units](/docs/units/creating-units)
* [Units](/docs/units/overview)