All categories
Help Center ยท 4 articles

Reservations

Bookings, walk-ins, status pills, contacting guests, settings.

013 min read

Confirming or cancelling a reservation

Use the row actions on the Reservations Table to move a booking from Pending to Confirmed or Cancelled.

Open Reservations

From the sidebar open the page titled "Reservations Dashboard". The main card "Restaurant Reservations" has the subtitle "Manage and track all your restaurant reservations". The booking list lives under "Reservations Table".

Read the status pills

  • "Pending" โ€” amber. A guest has booked but you have not yet acknowledged it.
  • "Confirmed" โ€” green. The table is locked in and the guest has been notified.
  • "Cancelled" โ€” red. The booking is off the floor plan and excluded from cover counts.

Take action on a row

  1. 01Find the booking in the table or in the day view ("Reservations for May 22, 2026").
  2. 02Hover the row to reveal the action icons.
  3. 03Click the check icon with tooltip "Confirm Reservation" to set the status to Confirmed.
  4. 04Click the cross icon with tooltip "Cancel Reservation" to set it to Cancelled.

Filter the list

Use the status dropdown to narrow the table by "All Statuses", "Pending", "Confirmed", or "Cancelled". Cancelled bookings are automatically excluded from the cover count and from daily totals.

024 min read

Adding a reservation by phone

Capture a phone booking using the New Reservation form, including party size, notes, and special event.

Open the form

On Reservations Dashboard click the "New Reservation" button (white text on the brand-blue background). The dialog opens with the section header "New Reservation Details".

Fill in the basics

  1. 01Enter the "Customer Name" exactly as the guest gives it.
  2. 02Set the "Number of People" โ€” this drives table allocation and cover counts.
  3. 03Pick the "Date" and "Time" from the pickers.
  4. 04Add "Phone" and "Email" so confirmation messages can reach the guest.

Tag a special event

Use the "Special Event" dropdown. Options are "None", "Birthday", "Anniversary", "Business Meeting", "Date Night", "Family Gathering", and "Other". The kitchen and host see this tag on the day so they can prepare a candle, a card, or a quieter table.

Leave a note for the team

  • Use "Additional Notes" for allergies, wheelchair access, high chairs, or anything specific.
  • Notes show up in the guest detail view alongside the contact info.
  • Keep notes short โ€” the host reads them at the door.
032 min read

Messaging a guest about their booking

Reach a guest by phone, SMS, email, or WhatsApp directly from the reservation row.

Open the guest details

Click a row on the Reservations Table to open "Reservation Details". The drawer shows "Customer Name", "Number of People", "Date", "Time", "Status", "Phone", "Email", "Special Event" (if any), and "Notes" (if any).

Pick a channel

  • A text-message option shows the subtitle "Text message to" followed by the customer phone number.
  • "Send WhatsApp" opens WhatsApp with the booking context pre-filled.
  • Email and direct phone call options use the address and number stored on the booking.

When to message

  1. 01Right after confirming, to reassure the guest the table is locked in.
  2. 02A few hours before the booking, to reduce no-shows.
  3. 03If a guest is late โ€” a short message often saves the cover.
043 min read

Configuring reservation settings

Set the days and times your restaurant takes bookings and tune the alerts you receive.

Open Reservation Settings

On Reservations Dashboard open the settings panel โ€” the section header reads "Reservation Settings".

Set availability

The availability card carries the subtitle "Set which days and times reservations are available". Define a window per weekday โ€” for example Tuesday to Saturday, 18:30 to 22:30. Outside those windows the public booking page hides the slot.

Configure alerts

The alerts card subtitle reads "Configure reservation alerts". Choose how you want to be notified when a new booking lands so a Pending request never sits unconfirmed.

Manage Special Event options

  • Use the icon with tooltip "Manage Special Event Options" to control the choices in the Special Event dropdown.
  • Add events that match your concept โ€” Wine Pairing, Tasting Menu, Live Music โ€” alongside the defaults.
  • Removing an event hides it from new bookings; existing ones keep the original tag.
24h ยท One business day

Did not find what you needed?

A real human from the Hesett team will reply within one business day. The faster you give us your restaurant name and the affected section, the faster we solve it.