Your questions.
Clear answers.

It means bringing guest conversations, bookings, events, vouchers and payments together around the experience your venue delivers. A question before a visit, the arrangements for arrival and an invitation to return all contribute to the relationship.

Seatly connects these everyday tasks so your team has more time and context to make guests feel welcome. The personal care, judgement and thoughtful touches come from your people.

Seatly can handle routine enquiries and booking arrangements, while dietary information and special-request notes help your team understand what a guest needs. Staff can take over a conversation when personal attention is needed.

Your team decides how to respond and which arrangements it can accommodate. Technology can make room for a thoughtful welcome; it does not guarantee that every request can be fulfilled.

Yes. Guests can ask venue questions through WhatsApp before deciding to book. The assistant uses configured venue information and can check availability when they are ready to make arrangements.

Questions it cannot answer from the available information can be referred to the venue. Keeping your information current helps guests receive useful answers.

Venues can invite guests who have opted in to hear about events, experiences and offers through approved WhatsApp marketing templates. Gift vouchers and promotional discounts provide further ways to share an experience or encourage a return visit.

A booking is not automatic permission for marketing. Campaigns remain subject to guest consent, opt-outs, messaging rules and the venue’s available marketing credits. This does not mean every follow-up or return-visit journey runs automatically.

Feedback, loyalty and membership tools are planned and are not yet available. They are part of Seatly’s direction for helping venues listen after a visit and build lasting guest relationships.

Current options include guest communication, events, gift vouchers, promotional discounts and consent-based marketing. No release date is promised here.

Seatly brings guest information and supported communication and transaction workflows into the same platform. The information visible depends on the feature and your team’s access.

A single consolidated timeline covering every interaction is not currently a production feature. Ask for a demonstration of the guest information and history your team needs before relying on a particular view.

Yes. Seatly Starter costs R10 per confirmed booking, including VAT, with no monthly subscription. The first five confirmed bookings are free once per venue.

This can suit a new, small or seasonal venue whose booking volume varies. Monthly packages are also available if you prefer a fixed subscription.

It is per confirmed booking, not per guest. For example, one confirmed restaurant booking for four guests costs R10 on Starter, rather than R40.

The same commercial rule applies to Events: each confirmed Event booking costs R10 on Starter or counts as one confirmed booking on a monthly package. There is no separate Seatly per-ticket fee. Guest admission prices and payment-provider charges are separate.

Yes. A booking counts once it is confirmed, even if it is subsequently cancelled. Cancelling a confirmed booking does not reverse the Seatly booking charge or remove it from monthly usage.

Any refund owed to a guest is a separate matter governed by the venue’s cancellation terms and payment workflow.

The first five confirmed bookings on Starter are free once per venue. The allowance does not renew each month and is not an unlimited free trial.

For example, the first ten confirmed bookings would use the five free bookings and incur R50 in Seatly booking charges for the remaining five, including VAT.

A completed or finalised primary booking for which a guest confirmation is sent counts, whether it comes through the booking assistant, venue portal or website booking page. Confirmed bookings still count if later cancelled.

Test records, duplicates and internal resource-allocation records do not count as additional primary bookings. A booking that uses several resources should not be confused with several separate guest bookings.

Published Seatly prices include VAT. Payment-provider fees are separate from Seatly’s booking charges or subscription.

Guest payments use Yoco. Its processing charges and settlement terms apply separately, so include those costs when comparing the total cost of accepting payments.

After the once-per-venue free allowance has been used, 100 confirmed Starter bookings cost R1,000 and 150 cost R1,500. Core costs R1,250 per month, so the Seatly charge equals 125 Starter bookings. All these figures include VAT.

Compare your expected monthly volume, seasonal variation and the package’s fair-use policy. This illustration excludes separate payment-provider charges and any custom services.

Core is R1,250 per month with a fair-use threshold of 220 confirmed bookings. Growth is R2,200 with 400, and Scale is R3,995 with 700. Published prices include VAT.

Enterprise is individually quoted with a custom fair-use policy. Review the Pricing page for the full package comparison and discuss any custom requirements before choosing.

Yes. Events and human handover are included on every plan, including Starter. Choosing a monthly package is not a prerequisite for those features.

Commercial inclusion and venue configuration are different: the Seatly team can confirm the setup and enablement needed for your venue. A dedicated WhatsApp number is an Enterprise option.

Seatly does not automatically cut off bookings mid-month or add an automatic overage charge. Usage is reviewed, and the team contacts you if a manual adjustment or a move to a more suitable package should be discussed.

The thresholds help match the package to actual usage; they are not a promise of unlimited usage at any volume.

You can upgrade or downgrade from Settings → Billing in the venue portal. Compare your recent confirmed-booking volume with the available packages before changing.

For effective dates, billing adjustments or any quote-specific terms, confirm the details with the Seatly team.

A dedicated WhatsApp number is available on Enterprise only. This is a dedicated number for the service, rather than connecting your venue’s existing WhatsApp number.

Contact Seatly for the setup, pricing and terms that apply to your venue. Do not assume a standard monthly package includes this option.

The booking assistant gathers the guest’s booking details, uses the venue’s configured information and checks availability before confirming a booking. The available options depend on your resources, hours and booking rules.

If payment is required, the guest may follow a secure payment link to checkout in a browser. A paid booking does not necessarily complete entirely inside WhatsApp.

No. Guests can book through WhatsApp or the hosted web booking page. The web journey works in a browser, including on a phone.

The venue portal also supports mobile access. Saving a shortcut to a phone’s Home Screen is optional; it is not a required guest app installation.

Yes. A hosted Seatly booking link can be shared directly with guests or placed on a social profile. You do not need to build a website just to share that booking page.

If you already have a website, link its booking button to your Seatly page. An embedded experience depends on your website and should be checked separately.

The venue portal supports staff-created bookings alongside guest bookings. Recording them in the same system helps your team see the resources already reserved.

Confirmed primary bookings count towards Seatly usage regardless of the channel. Internal resource allocations are not separate chargeable guest bookings.

Human handover is included on all plans. Where venue takeover is enabled, a staff member can take over and the booking assistant pauses during the handover.

Confirm the venue’s enablement and staff workflow with Seatly during setup. Human handover does not mean Seatly provides a staffed reception service or guarantees your team’s response time.

Seatly supports dietary information and special-request notes. These help the venue understand what the guest needs, but a note is not a guarantee that a request can be accommodated.

Questions about a venue’s specific arrangements should be answered by that venue. If you need custom mandatory fields or a specialist guest questionnaire, confirm the requirements during a demo.

Seatly supports booking confirmations and reminders. Venue links can provide arrival information and other practical details.

Confirm the configured timing and channels for your venue. Reminders can support your process, but Seatly does not promise a particular reduction in no-shows.

Booking changes and cancellations depend on the booking type, availability and venue rules. A requested change may need a new availability check, and a confirmed booking still counts towards Seatly usage if cancelled.

Event tickets follow their own workflow. Do not assume cancelling a booking automatically completes a payment refund or transfers an Event ticket to another person.

Seatly provides WhatsApp and web bookings with South African rand pricing. For restaurants, the key questions are how your tables, areas, hours, booking durations and guest rules should work.

Use a demo to walk through a real service at your venue, including staff bookings and special requests. Suitability depends on that workflow, rather than a claim that one system is best for every business.

A resource is anything guests can reserve, such as a table, spa bed, room, bicycle or court. Seatly uses your configured resources and availability to determine what can be booked.

A resource example is not a promise of a complete hotel, salon or rental-management system. Specialist workflows should be checked against your requirements.

Seatly’s resource and experience configuration can support different bookable offerings. Each offering needs the appropriate resources, guest rules and availability.

Bring examples of your services to the setup discussion, especially when they share equipment, have different durations or need staff supervision. Confirm the configuration before replacing separate tools.

Bookings follow the venue’s configured hours, special dates and resource availability. Closures and unavailable resources need to be recorded so they are reflected in bookable options.

Seasonal hours are configuration choices, not automatic predictions. Check your holiday exceptions and service availability before sharing booking links for those dates.

Seatly supports configured experience or menu durations and minimum and maximum guest settings. Other controls depend on the service and configuration.

During setup, confirm your exact minimum notice, advance window, buffers and any duration changes by party size. Do not assume an arbitrary rule is available without checking it.

A user with access to multiple venues can switch between them, with each location maintaining its own setup.

If you need consolidated reporting, a particular staff-permission structure or inventory shared across locations, discuss those requirements explicitly. Venue switching alone does not establish those capabilities.

Seatly has configured activity and equipment workflows, including resource allocation and guide-supervision rules. The fit depends on the activity, participants, resources and operating rules.

Ask for a walkthrough of your exact scenario. Rental returns, maintenance logs, damage deposits, signed waivers and agent pricing are separate requirements and should not be assumed from booking support alone.

Seatly advertises waitlist and automatic-offer functionality for eligible booking workflows. The exact behaviour depends on the booking configuration.

Confirm which services qualify, how offers expire and what the guest must do to accept. Do not assume an ordinary booking waitlist also applies to every Event or specialist service.

An ordinary reservation books a resource for a time within your venue’s availability and rules. An Event is a published occasion with its own date, time and booking setup.

Seatly supports assigned seating using selected tables, and unassigned admission using an Event capacity. Choose the model that matches what you are selling to the guest.

No. Unassigned admission gives access to an Event within its capacity; it does not by itself reserve a table.

If guests need allocated seating, use the assigned-seating model and make the seating arrangement clear in the Event description.

An unassigned Event has its own maximum capacity, which limits ticket allocations and confirmed sales. Assigned Events reserve the selected tables.

Other tables can remain available for eligible ordinary bookings. Capacity and table allocation should be checked for the specific Event before sales open.

No. There is no separate Seatly Event ticket fee. Each confirmed Event booking costs R10 on Starter or counts as one confirmed booking on a monthly package.

This is separate from what you charge guests for admission and from Yoco’s processing fees. Confirmed bookings still count if they are subsequently cancelled.

Seatly supports Event series with 2–30 independently bookable occurrences, such as consecutive nights or weekly dates. Each date has its own capacity and bookings or ticket orders.

This is not automatically a single pass covering the whole series. Make it clear which occurrence the guest is purchasing.

Seatly has QR ticket and check-in functionality for Event admission workflows. Ticket check-in is separate from an ordinary table reservation.

Confirm your door team’s access and check-in process before the Event. Offline scanning, duplicate-scan handling and specialist attendance reports should be demonstrated for your requirements.

Seatly supports Event postponement, date changes and cancellation workflows. Refund handling is a separate venue process; a cancellation is not proof that a refund has completed.

Agree a guest communication plan with your team. Do not assume every change automatically notifies all guests, particularly for assigned-seating Events.

Confirm the specific ticket categories and rules you need before launch. An Events feature does not automatically establish support for early-bird automation, complimentary admission, gift vouchers or ticket transfers.

Seatly has ordinary discount and voucher functionality, but the applicable booking channels and Event eligibility need to be checked for your intended offer.

Yes. Guests can buy a Rand-value gift voucher from your venue’s public voucher page for themselves or a named recipient. Supported offers include venue-defined values and a custom amount.

Purchases use the venue’s Yoco account and are made on the voucher page, not initiated through WhatsApp. Payment setup and applicable verification must be completed before accepting payments.

Vouchers can be delivered by email as a branded PDF or by WhatsApp as a secure link to the voucher page. The buyer and recipient each need at least one supported contact method.

Codes can be redeemed through supported Seatly WhatsApp and web booking checkout flows. Seatly tracks the balance or use limit. Redemption depends on the voucher’s eligible activities and terms; check Event eligibility for your intended offer. Venue administrators cannot redeem a voucher directly.

A purchased gift voucher holds a paid Rand value that can be used against eligible bookings. A venue-issued promotional discount is an offer, such as a Rand amount or percentage reduction, with its own eligibility, expiry and use limits.

These are recorded separately so purchased voucher balances are not confused with promotional offers. Promotional WhatsApp delivery is subject to marketing consent, credits and opt-out rules.

Venue administrators can see redemption history and the outstanding value of purchased gift vouchers. A shared ledger keeps voucher use and remaining balances consistent across supported redemption channels.

Promotional discounts are reported separately. Review the applicable terms and eligibility when creating an offer, so guests know how they can use it.

Seatly supports configured deposit or full-prepayment requirements for eligible booking workflows. Your menu or experience configuration determines when payment is required.

Confirm the deposit amount, supported rules and guest checkout experience during setup. A booking deposit is different from a refundable rental security deposit or card hold.

Guest payments use Yoco and settle to the venue’s payment account. Seatly’s booking fee or subscription is separate from the guest payment.

Yoco’s processing charges and settlement terms apply. Confirm the terms of your payment account rather than assuming a particular payout date or payment method.

Do not assume that accepting a booking deposit enables a later no-show debit, card hold or damage charge. These are different payment mechanisms with different authorisation requirements.

Discuss your intended policy and charging process with Seatly before advertising it to guests.

No automatic refund should be assumed from cancellation alone. A refund request, venue approval and a completed payment-provider refund are different stages.

Event refund workflows exist. Confirm the applicable rules, partial-refund support, processing costs and timing for the booking type and payment provider.

These requirements need to be confirmed for your specific workflow. A payment status or provider reference does not by itself establish instalments, manual tender recording or a compliant tax-document workflow.

Show the team the documents and payment steps your business needs before deciding to replace an existing accounting or payment process.

Seatly’s Privacy Policy states that it does not store card numbers, CVVs or online banking credentials. Payment providers process the payment information.

Review the Privacy Policy and your provider’s terms for the responsibilities that apply to your venue and guests.

Seatly provides guided setup, with timing depending on your venue’s configuration. Resources, hours, guest rules and payment requirements all affect the work involved.

Agree the setup responsibilities and any training or migration scope with the team. No fixed setup time is promised here.

Seatly connects guest communication, bookings, events, vouchers and payments in its own platform. Integrations with a named POS, calendar, CRM or other reservation system need to be confirmed for your venue.

Enterprise custom integrations and API options need an agreed scope. Running two booking systems does not automatically synchronise their availability; a verified integration or a reconciliation process is needed.

Discuss your source system, data format and future-booking requirements with the Seatly team. Import tooling does not mean every migration is included or every source is supported.

Agree validation, costs, responsibilities and the treatment of existing guest links before switching systems.

Guest export is advertised. Confirm the exact fields, formats, booking-history coverage and access arrangements before making a migration or cancellation decision.

Export and deletion are separate: some records may need to be retained under the published Privacy Policy and applicable obligations.

You can share venue booking links on social profiles and in campaigns. A link identifying the venue does not by itself provide completed-booking attribution.

Confirm any requirements for Google Analytics, Meta pixels, conversion events, affiliate tracking and consent before relying on those reports.

Seatly is operated by Hospitality Insights (Pty) Ltd t/a Seatly. Contact the Seatly team for help choosing a package, checking venue fit or discussing configuration.

Support arrangements depend on your package and agreement. No fixed response time or support-hours guarantee is made here.

Yes. Bring a typical guest journey: an initial question, a booking, any special requests, payment and a reason to return. We’ll show you the supported workflows and discuss your team’s requirements.

The Starter offer of five free confirmed bookings is separate from a demo and is not an unlimited free trial.

Test the guest journey with the languages, phone numbers, devices and payment methods your customers use. Mobile browser access alone does not establish every accessibility or international requirement.

If you need multilingual support or a specific accessibility standard, make that part of the evaluation before committing.

Seatly’s Privacy Policy explains the responsibilities of Seatly and venues, permitted processing and marketing, guest rights and lawful retention. Use guest information for the purposes and permissions that apply.

Booking information is not blanket permission for unrelated marketing. Review the policy alongside your own venue processes.

Guests can request profile removal through the verified WhatsApp process. The confirmed process de-identifies the guest profile and removes marketing permissions.

It does not necessarily erase every historical transaction or audit record. Records may be retained where a lawful reason applies, as explained in the Privacy Policy.

Seatly supports multiple users and has booking and guest audit records. The access appropriate for each team member depends on the venue setup.

Confirm the exact roles and permissions you need, especially across multiple locations. Do not assume a particular MFA scope or security certification without verification.

The assistant relies on configured venue information. Unanswered venue-specific questions can be routed to people rather than answered from assumptions.

Keep your venue information current and agree the handover process with your team. Automation does not replace a venue’s responsibility to confirm its own policies and special arrangements.

No system should be treated as an unconditional availability guarantee. WhatsApp and web booking channels can have shared dependencies, so one is not automatically a complete backup for the other.

Discuss your continuity requirements with Seatly. Any uptime commitment, recovery target or custom support arrangement must be established in the applicable agreement.