How to limit the flow of reservations at peak time

If too many guests arrive at once at peak time, limit the flow. All the settings you need are in one place: Floor & Tables → Cover Pacing.

What to do

1. Open Floor & Tables → the Cover Pacing tab.

2. Check Slot size — the time step the guest picks from (for example, 30 minutes). The “per slot” limits are counted for one such slot; channel quotas work differently — they count who is seated at a given moment.

3. In the How fast guests are let in section, set:

   • Max guests per slot — how many people can arrive at one time. Once the limit is used up, the guest is offered a later time.
   • Max bookings per slot — how many separate parties are accepted at one time (three reservations for two are six guests, but three seatings).

4. In the How much of the room each channel gets section, set Online guests at the same time — what share of the room you give to online. The remaining seats stay for the host and walk-in guests.

5. If you need a ceiling that can’t be broken manually — in the Limits that cannot be exceeded section, set the hard values above the soft ones.

6. Click Save Changes.

If the peak is only on Fridays

Don’t change the general limit — add a row in the Day exceptions section: choose the Day, set Max guests — the rule will override “Max guests per slot” on that day. If the rush only happens at certain hours, click Add time slot and specify the window (for example, 19:00–22:00); without a time slot the rule applies to the whole day.

Result: reservations are spread out evenly, and the kitchen and the room aren’t overloaded at peak time.

Learn more: Cover Pacing — a walkthrough of all eight settings.

Related: Online Booking Hours