Choosing a reservation system is a decision you make once and live with every single service. Here are the ten questions that actually matter — ask them of every vendor, including us.
1. How does the pricing scale? Flat monthly fee, or per-seated-guest commission? Commissions grow with your success (see [our commission math breakdown](/blog/commission-free-restaurant-reservation-systems)). Get the *total* yearly cost for your realistic cover volume, in writing.
2. Who owns the guest data? If you leave the platform in two years, do you take your guest database — e-mails, visit history, preferences — with you? If the answer is vague, the answer is no.
3. Can guests book from Google? Most reservation journeys start with a Google search for the restaurant's name. A system with Google Reserve integration turns that search result into a booking button. Without it, you are paying for a website click you may never get.
4. Is there a real floor plan? A list of reservations is not table management. During service you need a visual floor plan: which table is free, seated, reserved, blocked — at a glance, on a tablet at the host stand.
5. Does it talk to your POS? If reservations and your point-of-sale don't sync, staff maintain two systems by hand. Stolio, for example, has native two-way sync with Syrve POS — tables import automatically and every booking lands in the POS the moment it is made.
6. What happens with no-shows? Look for automated confirmations and reminders, easy one-click cancellation for guests, and a guest history that flags repeat offenders.
7. Is it truly bilingual? In the Czech market your staff may prefer Czech while tourists book in English. The interface, the booking page, and the automated e-mails should all handle both — automatically, per guest.
8. How fast is setup, honestly? Ask for a stopwatch answer. Adding tables, drawing a floor plan, and connecting a Google profile should take an afternoon, not a consulting engagement.
9. Is there a free trial without a card? A vendor confident in their product lets you run real reservations through it for two weeks before asking for payment details.
10. Where is support, and in what language? When Saturday service breaks at 19:30, an e-mail queue in another timezone does not help. Czech-language support with same-day answers is worth more than any feature.
Try the checklist on us. Stolio answers: flat pricing from 499 CZK/month, your data is yours, Google Reserve included, visual floor plan with an interactive timeline, native Syrve sync, automated bilingual e-mails, setup in under an hour, and a [14-day free trial with no card](/register). Compare us against anyone — we keep an honest [comparison hub](/srovnani) exactly for that.