--- title: Restaurant group bookings and Christmas enquiries description: Holly answers restaurant group, private dining and Christmas party enquiries in seconds, gathers the details and hands each one to your team ready to close. canonical_url: https://www.askholly.ai/group-bookings/ last_updated: 2026-10-08 --- Group bookings # Group bookings and Christmas enquiries, answered in seconds. The biggest enquiries, from private dining to Christmas parties, are worth the most and often wait the longest. Holly replies in seconds, day or night, asks the right questions and hands each one to your team ready to close. [Book a demo](https://calendly.com/boxlycrm/meet-holly-your-digital-concierge) [See how Holly works](https://www.askholly.ai/) ## Big enquiries go cold in a shared inbox. Christmas parties, leaving drinks, birthdays and corporate dinners arrive by form, email and WhatsApp, often after service and at weekends. When the reply comes tomorrow, the party has usually booked with whoever answered first. 1 in 3 emailed enquiries got no reply at all in a test of 250 UK and Irish venues ([Stampede, via QSR Media](https://qsrmedia.com/research/news/one-out-three-customers-dont-get-reply-their-query-report)). ## How Holly handles them. From the first reply to the moment your events team takes over. ### Replies in seconds A real answer to every form and email, whether it lands at 15:00 or 23:00, with your private dining details and menus attached. ### Asks the right questions Date, numbers, budget, occasion and dietary needs, gathered before your team picks it up. ### Follows up politely If a guest goes quiet, Holly follows up once or twice on the same channel and stops the moment they reply or book. ### Tracked to booked Every group enquiry moves through a pipeline from new enquiry to qualified, menus sent and booked, with the value in play at each stage. ### Handed over whole When it’s time for your events team, the whole thread comes with it, so nobody starts cold. ### Every channel, one pipeline Website chat, enquiry forms, email and WhatsApp all land in the same place. ## From first message to booked. See every group enquiry by stage, who owns it and the value in play, across every channel. ## Ready for Christmas. Holly answers each Christmas enquiry while it’s warm, sends your Christmas menus, gathers numbers and dietary needs, and keeps the conversation going until your team is ready to confirm. Your events team spends its time closing, not chasing. - Christmas menus sent with the first reply - Numbers, budget and dietary needs gathered - Followed up until your team confirms ## Questions ### Does this replace my events team? No. Holly takes the first reply, the questions and the chasing. Your team keeps the relationship and the close, with everything Holly gathered in front of them. ### How does Holly handle dietary needs and allergies? Holly records the dietary and allergy information guests share and passes it to your team with the enquiry. Answers about allergens come only from the information you provide. ### Will the follow-ups annoy people? Not if they’re done like a good host would. One or two, same channel, same thread, sensible hours. Holly stops the moment a guest replies, books or asks to stop, and never starts a conversation out of nowhere. You set how many and how far apart. ### Can I use Holly with a booking system other than OpenTable? Yes. Holly still answers every enquiry, sorts and routes it, and runs your inbox and pipelines. When a guest is ready to book, Holly sends them straight to your own booking page instead of making the booking in the conversation. ## From The Pass [The Christmas party enquiry that waited until Monday](https://www.askholly.ai/blog/christmas-party-enquiries/) ## More about Holly [Holly for OpenTable](https://www.askholly.ai/opentable/) [Holly on WhatsApp](https://www.askholly.ai/whatsapp/) [Holly for restaurant groups](https://www.askholly.ai/restaurant-groups/) ## Contact - [Book a demo](https://calendly.com/boxlycrm/meet-holly-your-digital-concierge) - Holly is a product of Holly AI, a subsidiary of EB Tech Limited.