A guest is on the phone and all you have is a first name and a room number. Both the Reservations table and the Guests table are built so that whatever detail you happen to have is enough to find the record. This article covers what each table accepts, how much of a detail you need to type, and why results come back in the order they do.
Results appear shortly after you stop typing. You do not need to press Enter.
What you can search by in the Reservations table
Booking reference. Type the exact reference.
Guest name. First, middle, or last name. The beginning of a name is enough, or a part of it. This finds any guest on the booking, not only the main guest, and the guest that matched is shown first in the Guests column.
Room number. The full number, or the beginning of it.
Guest email. Type the complete address, including the @.
Guest phone. Type the digits. Spaces and dashes do not matter, and it works with or without the country code.
What you can search by in the Guests table
Name. First, middle, or last name, and the beginning or a part of a name works. If you type a full name such as "Anna Berg", it matches guests whose first and last name fit together.
Email. The whole address or part of it.
Booking reference. The reference on any of the guest's reservations.
UUID. The guest's unique ID, or the beginning of it. Useful when you are following up on a specific guest from a support ticket or an export.
Phone. At least four digits. Formatting does not matter.
Two differences worth knowing
The two tables do not treat every field identically, and these two catch people out:
Email. The Reservations table needs the complete address, including the @. The Guests table matches on part of the address.
Booking reference. In the Reservations table it must be typed exactly. In the Guests table it matches against any of the guest's reservations.
If a partial email search returns nothing in Reservations, that is expected. Search the Guests table instead, then open the guest's reservation from there.
How results are ordered
In the Reservations table, exact matches come first, then partial matches. Within each of those groups, booking reference matches rank above name matches, then room number, then email and phone.
In the Guests table, guests that matched on name always appear above guests that only matched on email, booking reference, UUID, or phone. An exact name match ranks above a partial one, so searching "Rasmus" puts a guest named just Rasmus above a Rasmus Harrysson.
How search works with filters and sorting
Search only looks within your filtered results. A booking that exists but sits outside your current filters will not appear. This is the single most common reason a record seems to be missing, so clear the filters if you want to search the whole table.
Sorting takes priority over relevance. While you are searching, the best matches are shown first, but sorting by a column replaces that order.
Where the search bar is
There is nothing to switch on. Open Reservations or Guests in the left navigation and the search bar sits at the top of the table. You will see the records for the properties you have access to.
What this does not do
It does not search outside your filters. Filters win, and search works inside them.
It does not search everything in both tables. UUID works in Guests only, and room number in Reservations only.
It does not reach records you cannot see. Your property access still applies.
It does not keep your search. Leaving the table clears it, along with your filters and sorting.
Common questions
Why can I not find a booking I know exists?
Check whether you have filters on. Search only looks within the filtered results, so clearing the filters is usually the fix. If you were searching by email in the Reservations table, check that you typed the full address including the @.
Can I find a booking from the name of someone who is not the main guest?
Yes, in the Reservations table. Name search covers every guest on the booking, and the guest that matched is shown first in the Guests column so you can see why the booking came back.
Do I need to type a phone number the way it is stored?
No. Spaces and dashes are ignored in both tables, and in the Reservations table it works with or without the country code.
Why did my results reshuffle when I clicked a column heading?
Sorting by a column replaces the relevance order. Remove the sort to get back to best matches first.
What to do next
See The Reservations table for filtering, column layout, and CSV export.
Getting help
Open Help at the bottom of the left menu and choose Talk to Us, or email support@bookboost.io. Tell us which table you were searching, what you typed, and the record you expected to find.