How to take an order

Whether you're running a restaurant, a hotel bar, a shop, or a poolside service point, the POS in HotelBee is one screen — pick the place, pick the products, save or charge. Behind the scenes it routes the kitchen ticket, deducts from the right warehouse, applies happy-hour pricing, and (in countries that require it) sends the fiscal invoice.

Step 1 — Open a POS point

Open the POS Dashboard and tap the POS point you want to work in (Restaurant, Bar, Pool, Shop, etc.). Each POS point has its own products, currency, kitchen printer, table layout, and fiscal device — picking the right one matters because everything you do flows from it.

The POS screen at a glance

• Product grid — your menu, grouped by category. Tap a category chip to filter; the search box at the top filters by name.
• Current order panel — the running order with items, quantities, prices, and totals. Adjust quantity with + / − or remove with the × icon.
• Open orders drawer — the list of currently open tabs at this POS point. Tap one to resume it.
• Top bar — open-orders drawer, product search, an Update Products refresh button, the logged-in user's name, and a close button. Per-order actions like note, discount, customer/room, and courses live on the order side panel, not the top bar.

Step 2 — Pick a table or customer (optional)

If your POS point uses tables (most restaurants do), tap the table icon and select the table the order is for. The table picker shows your floor layout — already-occupied tables are visibly marked. For counter-style points (bar, shop) you can skip this entirely.

If the order is going on a hotel guest's room, tap the room/customer icon, choose the room, and HotelBee finds the active reservation in that room. From here the order can later be charged as Room Charge so it ends up on the guest's folio.

Step 3 — Add products to the order

Tap a product to add it to the order. Tap it again to add another (or use the + on the line item). Quick search from the top bar finds products by name when you don't want to navigate categories. Products with an active happy hour show the happy-hour price; the original price appears crossed out next to it.

Add notes, discounts, or courses

• Note — adds a free-text instruction to the whole order ("no onions on table 4", "birthday — sing happy birthday"). Toggle Hide note on receipt if it's only for the kitchen.
• Discount — apply a percentage or fixed-amount discount. Pre-configured POS discounts can be picked from a list (Staff Meal, Senior Discount, etc.). Permission gates this — waiters typically can't apply discounts without manager approval.
• Courses — split items between starters, mains, dessert so the kitchen fires them at the right time. See Course management in an order for the full flow.

Step 4 — Save or charge the order

Two ways to finish:

• Save (open tab) — keeps the order open. Kitchen ticket prints; the order shows up in the open orders drawer for any waiter to add to or pay later. Use this for restaurant table service where the bill comes at the end.
• Pay (close immediately) — opens the payment dialog. Pick the method, enter cash received (HotelBee shows the change), or process the card. The fiscal invoice prints and the order closes in one step. Best for bars, shops, and quick-serve.

Take the payment

The payment dialog lists every active payment method for this POS point — cash, card, room charge, voucher, gift card, bank transfer. Pick one, enter the amount, confirm. For multi-payment (split between cash and card), enter the first method's amount and the dialog updates the remaining balance for the next method.

If the customer is a hotel guest with an in-house reservation, Room Charge posts the order to their folio — they pay it at check-out instead of at the POS.

What gets printed

• Kitchen ticket — sent to the prep printer for each station. Items route based on product category.
• Customer receipt — printed on payment. Includes itemized list, taxes, payment method, and (in fiscal jurisdictions) the fiscal QR code and IIC reference.
• Waiter report — optional summary printed on save (depends on POS point settings).

After saving — what's next

Open orders are saved per POS point and visible to anyone working that POS. Pick one up by tapping it in the open orders drawer to add more items, change the table, transfer it to a room, void it, or take payment. Each of those flows has its own article.