The host stand tools OpenTable charges per cover for
Book from a calendar that shows the month at a glance, pin the tables that matter, and let soft assignments reflow themselves when service shifts — with guardrails for the busiest nights.
Book it right the first time
- A color-coded month calendar — orange booked, green available, gray closed — with a mini version inside the booking sheet and one-tap month or year jumps.
- Guest search with inline creation and duplicate prompts; attach dining companions so the whole party is on the record.
- Pin specific tables and lock them ("assign and lock") so nothing moves them; otherwise the engine picks the tightest fit by your table priorities.
- Per-booking confirmation toggle: email + SMS on create, updated details on edit.
- "Find next" answers a phone call in one tap: party of six → the first open slot in the next two weeks, prefilled into the booking form.
- Close a holiday from a tappable month calendar in settings — red closed, amber special hours, grey weekly day off.
Guardrails for busy nights
- Slot holds stop two hosts from promising the same time — the second host sees the slot locked with a note.
- Pacing-full slots show red; overbooking is deliberate, with an optional manager passcode.
- Per-slot flow controls cap covers or parties by window and reserve slots for online or in-house booking.
- An OpenTable-style day sheet: lunch/dinner shift tabs, live header totals, and a pacing strip per 15-minute window — with a walk-in forecast overlay no competitor draws.
- Tap any pacing window to block it or cap its covers for that date — no trip to settings mid-service.
- Soft assignments reflow automatically when a walk-in takes a pre-assigned table; locked bookings never move.
Fix conflicts in seconds
- A per-table day timeline: drag a booking onto another row to move it; overlapping assignments glow red until resolved.
- Moves validate capacity and refuse landing on another booking, with a plain-language explanation.
- Large parties spanning tables drag naturally: moving one block swaps just that table and keeps the rest of the set.
- Every booking carries its own change history — who moved it, when, and exactly what changed — one tap inside the booking form.
- OpenTable-style check-in tracks arrivals per cover; partially arrived parties roll up automatically.
- Turn-time learning shows the median actual turn from your last 90 days beside each configured band — apply it with one tap.
- Everything is audit-logged and broadcast to every device in real time.
More of the platform
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Common questions
Can TableStack stop two hosts from double-booking a slot?
Yes. Slot holds lock a time while one host books it, pacing caps mark full windows red, and every timeline move is validated against capacity, overlaps, blocked windows and pacing — with one-tap undo.
How does TableStack handle overbooking?
Deliberately, never accidentally: a pacing-full slot warns the host, and venues can require a manager passcode before a knowing overbook is saved.
Can I see who changed a reservation in TableStack?
Yes. Every booking carries its own change history — who moved it, when, and exactly what changed, down to 'Party: 2 → 4' — inside the booking form.