Track guests waiting for availability and temporarily block rooms from sale.
Overview
When you are sold out but a guest still wants dates, add them to the waitlist. When a room becomes free, contact the guest and convert the waitlist entry into a booking. Separately, room holds let you block specific rooms for a date range – for VIP holds, renovations staging, or group pre-assignments – so reservations cannot sell those rooms until you release the hold.
Find waitlist under Hotel → Reservations → Waitlist and room holds under Hotel → Reservations → Room holds.
How It Works
Waitlist entries track a guest, preferred room type, and desired dates through states: Waiting → Contacted → Fulfilled or Cancelled. Use Open booking to start a new reservation pre-filled with guest and dates. Link the resulting booking, then mark the waitlist as Fulfilled.
Room holds attach one or more rooms to a date range with a reason. While active, those rooms disappear from available room lists on bookings overlapping the hold dates. Holds do not create revenue – they only prevent double-selling.
Step-by-Step Guide
Waitlist
- Open Hotel → Reservations → Waitlist and click New.
- Select property, guest, preferred room type, check-in, and check-out.
- Save – status starts as Waiting.
- When a room opens, click Contact to mark Contacted.
- Click Open booking to create a draft booking with guest and dates filled in.
- Complete the booking, confirm it, then set Resulting booking on the waitlist and click Mark fulfilled.
Room holds
- Open Hotel → Reservations → Room holds and click New.
- Enter hold from and hold until dates (until is exclusive, like booking check-out).
- Select the rooms to block and enter a reason.
- Save. The hold is active by default.
- When the block is no longer needed, uncheck Active or delete the hold.
Fields Table
| Field Name | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
Waitlist – Reference |
Auto-generated waitlist number |
WL/2026/00008 |
Waitlist – Property |
Hotel for the request |
Grand Plaza Hotel |
Waitlist – Guest |
Contact waiting for a room |
Tom Baker |
Preferred room type |
Room category the guest wants |
Deluxe King |
Waitlist – Check-in / Check-out |
Desired stay dates |
20-22 Jul 2026 |
Waitlist – Status |
Waiting, Contacted, Fulfilled, Cancelled |
Contacted |
Resulting booking |
Booking created when waitlist is satisfied |
HB/2026/00201 |
Waitlist – Notes |
Free-text notes about the request |
Flexible ±1 day |
Hold – Reference |
Auto-generated hold number |
HOLD/2026/00003 |
Hold from / Hold until |
Date range the block applies to |
1-5 Aug 2026 |
Hold – Rooms |
Rooms removed from availability |
501, 502 |
Hold – Reason |
Why rooms are blocked |
VIP hold – wedding party |
Hold – Active |
Whether the block is currently enforced |
Checked |
Field Explanations
Waitlist – Reference
Unique ID for the waitlist request. Use it when calling the guest back.
Waitlist – Property
Which hotel the guest wants. Room type must belong to this property.
Waitlist – Guest
Contact to reach when a room opens. Create under Guest Profiles if new.
Preferred room type
Optional but helps match inventory when a room frees up. Can be left empty for any type.
Waitlist – Check-in / Check-out
Desired stay window. Same date rules as bookings – check-out must be after check-in.
Waitlist – Status
- Waiting – on queue.
- Contacted – guest notified.
- Fulfilled – converted to booking.
- Cancelled – no longer needed.
Resulting booking
Link the confirmed booking before marking fulfilled. Required for the fulfilled action.
Waitlist – Notes
Flexibility, rate quoted, special requests – anything the next agent needs.
Hold – Reference
System ID for the hold record.
Hold from / Hold until
Hold from is the first blocked night. Hold until is the exclusive end (same convention as booking check-out).
Hold – Rooms
One or more rooms that cannot be sold while the hold is active and dates overlap.
Hold – Reason
Short mandatory explanation – visible to reservations staff when a booking attempt fails.
Hold – Active
Uncheck to release rooms without deleting history. Inactive holds do not block availability.
Tips
- Sort the waitlist by check-in date to prioritize guests with the nearest arrival.
- Use room holds for soft blocks during group sales – release them if the group does not materialize.
- Open booking from the waitlist pre-fills guest, property, dates, and may suggest a room line – saves retyping.
Common Mistakes
- Marking fulfilled without booking The system requires a linked resulting booking before status can become Fulfilled.
- Forgetting to deactivate holds Expired VIP holds left active will keep rooms off the market and confuse agents.
- Confirming booking on held room If dates overlap an active hold, confirmation is blocked – adjust the hold or pick another room.