Tables
How HaiLa keeps track of tables, why two reservations cannot land on the same one, and what can only be done from the Pro app.
How a table becomes occupied
#Every real table has a list in HaiLa of the periods it is taken. When you assign a table to a reservation, a period is written there: from the reservation time to that time plus the average time at table.
That write happens as one indivisible step, so two assignments made at the same moment from two phones cannot both land on the same table at the same time. The second one is refused, not written over the first. That is why you never find two parties sent to one table.
Walk-ins occupy a table exactly the way reservations do: a walk-in seated at table 7 takes it out of the count for everyone else.
A walk-in holds the table for a fixed stretch
On the floor plan the table stays occupied until you close the visit yourself. But the hold that keeps other reservations off it starts when you seated them and lasts about as long as a normal visit, an hour and a half to two hours. A longer stay than that and the table counts as free again, so a reservation can be assigned on top of a party still sitting there. For visits that run long, check the plan before you assign.
Venues on the Lite plan have no tables in HaiLa, and therefore no assignments: there is nothing to occupy and nothing to free.
The table number, and what the guest sees
#A table number is mainly for your team: in the HaiLa apps and on the reservation page at haila.md the guest does not see it.
It is not quite private
On the older website screens the reservation does show the guest a table, and if they add the reservation to their calendar the table number goes into the event description. So do not treat the number as internal information.
What does hold is the notification side: neither assigning a table nor moving a party to another one sends the guest anything. You can re-seat the whole evening without telling anyone; if they did see a table somewhere, the worst case is that they ask about it on arrival.
Merged tables
#Two tables can be merged into one for a bigger party. It is done in the Pro app, from a button, not by dragging on the plan:
- Open Floor and tap the table you are starting from.
- In its panel, tap Merge Tables.
- Pick the second table from the list. The list only offers free tables on the same floor and in the same zone.
- Confirm in the dialog: it names both tables and the number of seats the merged table will have.
The capacity of the new table is the sum of the two. Unmerge Tables takes them apart again, and the tables, their capacity and their place on the plan come back as they were.
HaiLa refuses the merge while either table is tied up: an active reservation is assigned to it (pending, confirmed or seated), a walk-in is seated at it, or it is already occupied. A table that cannot be merged is not offered in the list, and if none fits you get a message that no compatible free tables are available.
A merged table cannot be merged with a third one. If you need a still bigger party, unmerge and build it again.
Merge before service
Because any active reservation on either table blocks the operation, merging is easiest before assignments for that evening have begun.
Floors, zones and walls
#A table has a number, a capacity, a zone (indoor, outdoor, terrace or patio) and a floor. Floors are named however you like, and the plan is read one floor at a time.
Walls and dividers, the ones that make the map look like your room, are drawn only in the Pro app, in the floor plan editor. They are drawing elements: nothing books them and they add nothing to capacity.
The dashboard has a plan editor too, in Settings under Floor plan. You can add, move and edit tables from there, but the editor does not see the day reservations, so tables cannot be assigned from it.
The first table cannot be made in the dashboard
The Floor plan section appears in the dashboard only for a venue that already has at least one table. It is not the editor that is limited but the way in: with zero tables the section is simply not shown. So the first table is created in the Pro app, or by asking us, and after that you can work from the dashboard too.