Option until a deadline and the waitlist

Two tools for bookings that are not settled yet. An option holds a room without payment until an agreed deadline: the guest is "thinking", the company is approving — and if nobody confirms, the room goes back on sale by itself. The waitlist is for a guest who could not get a room: when a matching room frees up, the front desk gets a task.

Who: a front desk employee or administrator with access to bookings.

A new option#

Create a booking as usual — from an empty calendar cell, see Create a booking from an empty cell.
In the form, turn on Hold as an option (no payment until the deadline).
Hold until (hotel time) — the deadline. By default — tomorrow at 18:00, but not later than the check-in day.
Remind the desk — how long before the deadline to set a reminder (see below).
Press Create reservation.

The room is taken on these dates just like with a regular booking: it will not be sold on the website, in channels or at the front desk. The calendar bar gets a ⏳ mark with the tooltip "Option until {deadline}".

To turn an existing booking into an option: in its card, press Hold as an option, set the deadline and press Save deadline — you will see "Option deadline saved".

Which booking can be held as an option: a booked one, not checked in yet, not from the website and not from an OTA. A confirmed option cannot be reopened. Otherwise — "This booking cannot be held as an option…".

Deadline and reminder#

Deadline — at least 5 minutes from now (hotel time) and not later than the check-in day.
Reminder — No reminder, 30 min before, 1 h before, 2 h before (default), 4 h before or 1 day before. No more than a week before the deadline. If the reminder moment has already passed, it is not set.

The booking card, ⏳ Option block, shows "Held until {date}", how much time is left ("{h} h {m} min left") and "Desk reminder: {date}".

At the reminder time, the task board gets a task "⏳ Option booking {guest} expires {deadline}": confirm the booking with the guest or extend the option.

Confirm or extend#

The guest confirmed: in the booking card, ⏳ Option block, press Guest confirmed. You will see "Booking confirmed" — it is a regular booking now, no data has to be entered again.

More time is needed: Extend, a new deadline and Save deadline. The reminder is recalculated from the new deadline.

Release the room before the deadline: cancel the booking — "To release the room now, cancel the booking." How: Cancel a booking with a reason.

Automatic release#

You do not need to watch deadlines yourself: the server checks options every 15 minutes.

The deadline passed without confirmation — the booking is cancelled by itself, the room goes back on sale (on the website, in channels and iCal), and the front desk gets a task "🔓 Option booking {guest} released — room back on sale". The card shows "Option released {date}: the deadline passed without confirmation."
The booking has a payment or its guarantee condition is met — the option is not released but confirmed: the system will not drop a guest who has paid.
The deadline has passed, but there has been no check yet — the card warns: "The deadline has passed — it will be released at the next check (within 15 min) unless you confirm now." There is still time to press Guest confirmed.

The guest confirmed after the release. A released option cannot be confirmed: "Too late: the option has already been released. If the room is still free, reinstate the booking." Open the card of the cancelled booking and press ↩ Reinstate booking with a reason.

There is no email to the guest about the option deadline — tell them the deadline yourself.

Waitlist#

The guest wants dates that are sold out? Add them to the waitlist.

Above the calendar, in the 🕒 Waitlist strip, press ＋ Add to waitlist.
In the Add a guest to the waitlist window, fill in Guest name and Phone (required), and optionally Email.
Enter Check-in and Check-out — check-in no earlier than today, up to 60 nights.
Room type — a specific one or Any room type (any type that fits the guests will do).
Adults and Children.
Press Add to waitlist. You will see "Guest added to the waitlist".

The guest's contact is stored in the guest card; the waitlist only keeps a link to it. You can open it with the Show contact button.

The waitlist strip shows "{n} waiting" and "🔔 {n} — room available". Open shows the whole list: each entry has a status and a hint — "🔔 Room available: {types}" or "No room yet".

Entry statuses: waiting, booked (a booking has been created), removed (the entry was removed manually), dates passed (the check-in day came and there is no booking). Closed entries are shown with the Show closed entries switch.

The waitlist holds up to 300 open entries.

A task when a room frees up#

Every 15 minutes, right after checking options, the server compares the waitlist with free rooms. A room matches if for every night of the entry there is at least one sellable room of the right type — taking into account bookings, options, room blocks and rooms out of order (the same calculation as the calendar).

When a room is found, the task board gets a task "🔔 A room is free for a waitlisted guest": "Contact the guest and create the booking yourself (nothing is sold automatically)."

The "🔔 Room available" hint in the list itself is recalculated every time the list is opened.

Create a booking from the waitlist#

Open the list (Open in the waitlist strip) and find the entry marked "🔔 Room available".
Contact the guest: Show contact.
If the guest agrees, press Book. The regular booking form opens with the dates, contact and guests filled in, on a free room of the right type.
Check it and press Create reservation. The waitlist entry closes by itself: "Waitlist entry closed by the booking".

If the guest changed their mind — Remove: "Removed from the waitlist".

An entry cannot be edited: remove it and add the guest again.

What is not available yet#

Emails and SMS to the guest are not sent — neither about the option deadline nor about a room becoming available. Only tasks for the front desk.
Automatic booking from the waitlist is not available: an employee creates the booking.
Editing a waitlist entry is not available — remove it and add it again.
Options on website and OTA bookings are not available.
A note or a priority on a waitlist entry is not available.

FAQ#

Does an option take a room just like a booking?#

Yes. The room is not sold on these dates on the website, in channels or at the front desk until the option is confirmed or released.

What happens if the guest paid but nobody pressed "Guest confirmed"?#

When checking the deadline, the system sees the payment (or a met guarantee) and confirms the option itself — the booking is not released.

The guest called an hour after the option was released. What do I do?#

If the room is still free, open the cancelled booking and press ↩ Reinstate booking with a reason.

Does the waitlist create the booking by itself when a room frees up?#

No. The front desk gets a task and the "🔔 Room available" hint, and creates the booking with the Book button after talking to the guest.