Depending on the room and your organization's settings, a meeting room booking can involve up to two approvals. They are completely independent of each other, and many bookings need neither.
The two layers
1. Your organization's approver. Some organizations require an internal sign-off on meeting room bookings, for example to keep an eye on spend. If yours does, the booking form asks you to choose an approver from a list and lets you add a message to give them context (the date, the client, the reason). Your booking shows as Pending approver confirmation until they respond.
This layer can also kick in based on budget: if your booking would take you past your monthly allowance, you can still request the room, but it will need an approver's confirmation before it is booked.
2. The workspace. Rooms that are not instant book send a request to the workspace, whose team accepts or rejects it. This shows as With operator for approval. Instant book rooms skip this layer entirely: the workspace never needs to approve them.
A booking only becomes Confirmed once every layer that applies to it has said yes. If neither applies, your booking is confirmed immediately.
Instant book rooms and internal approval
If you book an instant book room and your organization requires approval, Desana reserves the room while your approver decides. The booking's detail page shows exactly how long the reservation is held. If your approver confirms in time, you are all set. If the reservation expires first, your approver can still approve the booking afterward, and if the room is still available it will be confirmed. If it is no longer available, you receive a full refund.
What happens if someone says no?
Declined by your approver: you will see the reason they gave, and you receive a full refund of anything already deducted.
Rejected by the workspace: you will always see the reason (for example, the room was no longer available), and you are fully refunded.
Either way, nothing stops you from adjusting and rebooking straight away.
Can I speed things up?
Add a clear message for your approver when you book. Context gets faster yeses.
For time-sensitive bookings, give your approver a heads-up outside the app too.
You can withdraw a pending booking at any time with a full refund if plans change while you wait.
If you still have questions about how approval works for meeting room bookings, feel free to reach out to our Customer Support team via the in-app support chat or at [email protected].