Reservations & waitlist
Table-aware online bookings with deposits, packages, policies, a full waitlist and QR arrival check-in.
Updated 2 August 2026
What it is
Reservations in NexDine cover the whole booking life cycle: guests book online against your real floor plan, pay a deposit if your policy asks for one, and check in by QR when they arrive. Your team runs tonight's plan, the weekly calendar, the waitlist and every policy from one place.
What problem it solves
Phone-only bookings, no-shows and double-booked tables all come from the same gap: the booking book does not know the floor. NexDine's availability is table-aware — a booking only exists if tables that fit the party are genuinely free — and deposits with a clear cancellation window give no-shows a cost. When no slot fits, the guest joins a waitlist instead of walking away.
How it works
On the admin side:
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Today's plan is the service view: every booking with its status, and one-tap actions to confirm, seat, mark a no-show or cancel. Each booking keeps a full change history.
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The calendar shows the day or the week at a glance, with covers per day, so you can spot heavy services before they arrive.
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Policies set the rules once: meal periods and slot lengths, seating policies by party size and zone, deposit percentage, the cancellation window, and what happens with large parties — route them to the events flow or to a contact instead of self-serve.
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Packages let you sell occasions, not just tables — a set-menu package priced per guest, with course rules and optional menu choices at checkout.
On the guest side:
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Guests book on your website in five short steps: details, time, table, package, confirm. The table step shows your actual floor plan — they pick the exact table they will sit at (or you can switch to automatic assignment).
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If a deposit is required, the guest pays it by card during booking, and your cancellation policy is shown before they commit.
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When no slot fits, the guest joins the waitlist with a quoted wait and gets notified when a table opens.
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On arrival, the guest scans the QR code from their confirmation and checks in — the booking flips to arrived with their table shown.
Everything inside the system
- Table-aware availability against your real floor plan, including table combinations.
- Deposits at booking with a configurable percentage and cancellation window (deposits are processed by Stripe).
- Booking packages priced per guest, with course rules and checkout menu choices.
- Seating policies, meal periods, slot duration and buffers, booking horizon.
- Large-party handoff to the events flow or a contact.
- Full waitlist with statuses, quoted waits and staff controls.
- SMS confirmations and reminders, guest notifications, and QR arrival check-in.
- Booking change history on every reservation.
This is built into NexDine — there is no separate booking widget to buy or log into. Deposits and booking payments are processed by Stripe, and every setting is managed from inside NexDine.