HostyFlow Operations Playbook and Guide
Step by step guides for every task your team does in HostyFlow, from the host stand to setup.
Getting Started
Your Setup Guide, Step by Step
Setup walks you through eleven steps, from your restaurant's name to going live. You can skip a step and come back to it.
Signing In with an Email Code
You sign in to HostyFlow with a 6-digit code sent to your email. There is no password to remember.
Who's Working and Shifts
One signed-in device can serve your whole team. Each person taps their name, enters the code HostyFlow sends them, and sees the tools their role allows.
Adding Your Team and Choosing What Staff Can Do
Add each person on Team, give them Staff or Manager access, and choose in Settings which actions staff logins can take.
Importing Your Guest List
Upload the export from your old booking system as a CSV file. HostyFlow brings over guests, past visits, future bookings, notes and tags.
Host Stand Operations
The Workstation: Top Bar, List and Timeline
The Workstation shows tonight's guests beside your floor. Switch between Floor, Timeline and List, and pick the day and service at the top.
Making a Reservation by Hand
Take a booking over the phone or at the door with the plus button in the top bar.
Seating Guests and Walk-ins
Check guests in, seat them with one tap, add walk-ins, and move each table from dining to paying to cleaning to ready.
Running the Waitlist
Add walk-ins, let guests join from their phones, and text each party when their table is ready.
Shift Notes and the Pre-shift Plan
Put a note on every device's top bar, and send the team a briefing with tonight's tables, VIPs, allergies and occasions.
Guest Cards, Tags and Allergy Badges
Every guest has a card with their visits, notes and messages. Allergy and occasion words in host notes show as badges.
The Floor
Joining Tables by Dropping One on Another
Drag a table onto the table beside it to join them for a larger party. Split them again from the table card.
The Design Panel: Adding and Arranging Tables
The plus button on the floor opens Design the floor. Add tables, bars, rooms and areas, then tap anything to name, resize, color or remove it.
Saved Floor Plans, Templates and Event Layouts
Save the floor as a plan and switch back to it later. Start from a template or lay out an event in one area.
Levels and Entrances
Add a level for an upstairs room or a rooftop, and place each entrance on its wall.
Floor Colors and Themes
Color the whole floor with one of nine themes, or color a single table, area or piece.
Sections and Who Is Serving Them
Group tables into sections and choose who serves each section today. The server's name shows on the table card.
Guest Intelligence and Communication
Texting a Guest and Reading Replies
Text any guest from your restaurant's number, pick a quick message or write your own, and read every reply in Messages.
Changing the Wording of Guest Messages
Write your own confirmation, reminder, table-ready and waitlist messages in Settings. Guests get exactly your words.
The Auto Switch for Waitlist Texts
With auto off, HostyFlow drafts each waitlist update and almost ready text for your team to send. With auto on, it sends them itself.
Phone Calls, Transcripts and Voicemail
HostyFlow answers calls to your HostyFlow number. Read every call's transcript and play every voicemail in Messages.
The Guest Survey and Reviews
Turn on the survey and each guest gets a link to rate their visit after they leave. You approve 4 and 5 star reviews before they show on your page.
Money, Events and Add-ons
Deposits, Card Holds and No-show Fees
Connect your bank, then choose your deposit, cancellation window and no-show fee on Payments. Guests pay you directly and HostyFlow takes nothing.
The Payments Screen, Refunds and Money Settings
See every deposit, fee and refund on Payments, charge or refund with one button, and set tax, service charge and gratuity.
Add-ons Guests Pick When They Book
Offer up to 6 add-ons, such as a wine flight or a celebration cake, on your page and in the booking card.
Events and Private Dining Requests
Put an event on your events page, and take private dining requests for the rooms you open to them.
Connections, Reports and Locations
Connecting Outside Software with Keys and Notices
Give your own software a key to read and make bookings, and a notice address to hear when a booking or a guest changes.
Booking Links and Bookings from Other Systems
Share your booking link everywhere, put the booking card on your own website, and bring in bookings from another booking system by email.
Reports and Closing the Night
See covers, revenue, no-shows, walk-ins and turn times for any period, close the night, and export a CSV.
Running More Than One Location
Add a location, switch between them, and see which details every location shares.
The Team Schedule, Clocking In and Time Off
Plan the week's shifts, text each person their schedule, and handle clock-ins and time-off requests.
Questions About Setup or Workstation Workflows?
Write to team@hostyflow.com with a question about setup, your floor plan or your account.