ApproveThis manages your Hostfully Integration approvals.

Why Property Managers Are Gluing These Two Tools Together

Let’s cut to the chase: vacation rental companies using Hostfully need to move fast, but approvals still slow everyone down. A new booking comes in at 2AM. Your operations team needs to check pet policies. Your finance lead wants to verify payment terms. Meanwhile, your star cleaner’s on vacation and can’t confirm availability.

This is where ApproveThis becomes Hostfully’s secret weapon. We’re talking about automatically converting bookings into approval workflows that:

• Route requests to the right people based on booking value or property type
• Handle approvals via email so external vendors don’t need logins
• Auto-cancel reservations if key stakeholders reject them

And here’s the kicker: approvers only need email access. No extra Hostfully seats required. Perfect for owners, contractors, or anyone outside your core team.

Three Ways This Combo Saves Your Sanity

1. Auto-Gatekeep New Bookings

Picture a boutique agency managing luxury cabins. Their owners demand veto power on every reservation. Instead of manually forwarding booking details:

The Zapier Play: New Hostfully booking → Auto-create ApproveThis request → Owner approves/denies via email → Booking confirmed or trashed.

Real-world impact: Reduced response time from 48 hours to 90 minutes for a 20-property portfolio in Lake Tahoe.

2. Force Re-Approvals on Booking Changes

Imagine a corporate housing provider needing CFO sign-off on extended stays. Original approval covered 30 days, but the guest wants 90? Cue the chaos.

The Fix: Hostfully booking update → Trigger new approval chain → Finance team reviews via mobile → Auto-update reservation if approved.

Bonus: ApproveThis’ calculated fields auto-flag cost overages during extensions.

3. Instant Cancellations on Rejections

Large management companies can’t risk unvetted bookings. When a last-minute request bypasses safety checks:

The Kill Switch: Deny in ApproveThis → Auto-cancel in Hostfully → Trigger refund workflows → Notify cleaning teams.

Pro tip: Pair with approval thresholds to auto-approve bookings under $5k, but escalate pricier ones.

Who Actually Cares About This Integration?

Operations Teams: Stop Playing Approval Tag

Your staff isn’t paid to chase down signatures. With automated routing:

- Maintenance requests get auto-routed to preferred vendors based on issue type
- Cleaner assignments adjust when teams hit capacity thresholds
- Price overrides require manager approval before confirming upgrades

Finance Departments: Plug Revenue Leaks

Ever had a property booked at 50% off because someone fat-fingered a discount? Approval thresholds fix that:

- Auto-flag bookings with rates below seasonal minimums
- Require dual approval for refunds over 15%
- Escalate tax exemption requests to accounting

Compliance Officers: Sleep Through the Night

Short-term rental regulations are brutal. Automate the boring stuff:

- Require HOA approvals for specific properties
- Enforce insurance checks for event bookings
- Archive approval chains for audit trails

Setting This Up Without Losing Your Mind

Here’s the straight story: If you can make a sandwich, you can build this integration. Hostfully → Zapier → ApproveThis takes 15 minutes if you’re slow at clicking.

Step 1: Map Your Approval Logic

Before touching Zapier, answer these in ApproveThis:
- Who approves what? (Owners? Managers? Both?)
- What needs instant vs. committee approval?
- How long until auto-escalation?

Step 2: Connect the Pipes

In Zapier, create a New Zap:
Trigger: Hostfully’s “New Booking” event
Action: ApproveThis “Create Request” with mapped fields

Test with a fake booking. Seriously—nobody wants accidental emails to real clients.

Step 3: Handle the Backflow

Reverse Zap for denials:
Trigger: ApproveThis rejection
Action: Hostfully cancellation + notification

Warning: Sync with your cancellation policy settings first.

Why This Isn’t Just Another Integration

ApproveThis brings specific muscle to Hostfully setups:

Approval Delegation: Your lead inspector takes PTO? Requests auto-reroute without changing Hostfully access.

Dynamic Pricing Checks: Calculated fields auto-compare rates against market data before approval.

Multi-Property Workflows: Route bookings to different approvers based on location tags in Hostfully.

Compliance Paper Trails: Every approval/rejection time-stamped with reasons—no more “I didn’t see that email.”

The Bottom Line for Vacation Rental Pros

Hostfully handles the bookings. ApproveThis handles the bureaucracy. Together, they let you:

- Approve high-value bookings 73% faster (actual client metric)
- Reduce compliance fines through audit-ready trails
- Scale to 500+ properties without approval chaos

This isn’t about replacing human judgment—it’s about eliminating the busywork so your team can actually use theirs.

Snag a demo to see how approval automation works with your Hostfully setup. Or start a free trial if you’re ready to stop being an approval middleman.