What's in a name?

[jmj]

What did you consider when naming your business?
The restaurant has a good, strong, established, logical name for a restaurant. It would see the hotel side had "no name". I suppose we could use the restaurant name ...hotel, but its just not that appealing to me/us. So, thoughts or ideas? I wish I could give you more info on the area, but the ink still isn't on the paper. But it is within eyesight of the beach and in Mexico.

 

[gillumhouse]

There is a lot in a name. Ask GM about a car named Nova they tried to sell in Mexico where Nova means No Go. Say Schmidt House quickly for another example of how important a name is. The restaurant & B & B I referred to in another thread with the same name is Cafe C*****. The entire operation is Cafe C.

 

[Madeleine]

I wanted to rename the place. But the reviews were good and it had been here 17 years already.
Consider how easy it is to say again and again on the phone. Does it translate well? Does it tell the guest what they might get? Does it conjure up happy feelings? Maybe it's just the name of the town or the area so it has built in seo.
Casa Playa (at the ABC restaurant)

 

[TheBeachHouse]

We don't like the name of our place, but it has been an inn for over 100 years. Not changing it. But we did change the names of the rooms. They had ship names like 'Wheel House' and 'First Mate's Quarters.' We aren't ship people. We are beach people. We named them after the beaches in town.
What kind of people do you want? What do people google to find you?
Name of Beach Inn. Hotel at Name of Beach.

 

[Madeleine]

We don't like the name of our place, but it has been an inn for over 100 years. Not changing it. But we did change the names of the rooms. They had ship names like 'Wheel House' and 'First Mate's Quarters.' We aren't ship people. We are beach people. We named them after the beaches in town.
What kind of people do you want? What do people google to find you?
Name of Beach Inn. Hotel at Name of Beach..

I've been changing the room names, too. Just a couple that made no sense or were hard to pronounce by everyone who called. And hard to understand when we said them on the phone.

 

[OnTheShore]

We don't like the name of our place, but it has been an inn for over 100 years. Not changing it. But we did change the names of the rooms. They had ship names like 'Wheel House' and 'First Mate's Quarters.' We aren't ship people. We are beach people. We named them after the beaches in town.
What kind of people do you want? What do people google to find you?
Name of Beach Inn. Hotel at Name of Beach..

I've been changing the room names, too. Just a couple that made no sense or were hard to pronounce by everyone who called. And hard to understand when we said them on the phone.
.

We had a cottage that, when it was first built in 1949, was called the Halfway House, because it was located halfway up the hill between the Shore and the Lodge. The name was changed to the Hillside Cottage in the late 70's or early 80's when the original name had acquired a less-than-savory connotation in common parlance!

 

[jmj]

We don't like the name of our place, but it has been an inn for over 100 years. Not changing it. But we did change the names of the rooms. They had ship names like 'Wheel House' and 'First Mate's Quarters.' We aren't ship people. We are beach people. We named them after the beaches in town.
What kind of people do you want? What do people google to find you?
Name of Beach Inn. Hotel at Name of Beach..

Property has 1 bed room apartments (multiple) with bath, kitchen, living, dining room, and a laundry! area. (when we sign, I will share the history of the place).
Since these are apartments, we are anticipating people who want to stay a week or longer (since getting there involves an international flight- there are locals, but currently most are foreigners). There are also many snowbirds- so we would also appeal to them, apartment with some security/company/in town. And they would be there from 1-5 months, depending.
As far as google searches, key words might be maya, beach, gulf coast Mexico, (name of town), flamingos, fishing, (name of closest big town, and then major city name) ruins, local ruin names, (all in Spanish and English).
So this brings me to the "hotel" part. Inn? Guesthouse? Apartments? Lodging? Motel? Etc.

 

[Mary at Bridgewater Inn and Cottage]

Stay high in the alphabet like a name starting with A or B or C. Lots of sites ( JMU, Bridgewater College, etc. ) list lodging on there site this way.

 

[gillumhouse]

We don't like the name of our place, but it has been an inn for over 100 years. Not changing it. But we did change the names of the rooms. They had ship names like 'Wheel House' and 'First Mate's Quarters.' We aren't ship people. We are beach people. We named them after the beaches in town.
What kind of people do you want? What do people google to find you?
Name of Beach Inn. Hotel at Name of Beach..

Property has 1 bed room apartments (multiple) with bath, kitchen, living, dining room, and a laundry! area. (when we sign, I will share the history of the place).
Since these are apartments, we are anticipating people who want to stay a week or longer (since getting there involves an international flight- there are locals, but currently most are foreigners). There are also many snowbirds- so we would also appeal to them, apartment with some security/company/in town. And they would be there from 1-5 months, depending.
As far as google searches, key words might be maya, beach, gulf coast Mexico, (name of town), flamingos, fishing, (name of closest big town, and then major city name) ruins, local ruin names, (all in Spanish and English).
So this brings me to the "hotel" part. Inn? Guesthouse? Apartments? Lodging? Motel? Etc.
.

It sounds guesthouse to me

 

[Generic]

Our original name came from a feature of the house. The current (second B&B)'s name is a variation on that name but reflects the size and character of the house. Many people have told us that the name is one of their decisions to choose this place.
Sit down one day and look around at the neighbourhood, the characters, the make-up or even construction of the house and give us a general idea what was words come to mind. Look up on the net to see what Google Autocomplete gives you when you pull up the name of your city. Write something like "Best thing to see in ____ is" and see what autocomplete gives you. You may be surprised.
For example, if you write "Rocky Mount NC is" Google autocompletes with "what county" and "fair". So obviously that's what people look up.

 

[JBloggs]

Our original name came from a feature of the house. The current (second B&B)'s name is a variation on that name but reflects the size and character of the house. Many people have told us that the name is one of their decisions to choose this place.
Sit down one day and look around at the neighbourhood, the characters, the make-up or even construction of the house and give us a general idea what was words come to mind. Look up on the net to see what Google Autocomplete gives you when you pull up the name of your city. Write something like "Best thing to see in ____ is" and see what autocomplete gives you. You may be surprised.
For example, if you write "Rocky Mount NC is" Google autocompletes with "what county" and "fair". So obviously that's what people look up..

Our original name came from a feature of the house. The current (second B&B)'s name is a variation on that name but reflects the size and character of the house. Many people have told us that the name is one of their decisions to choose this place.
Sit down one day and look around at the neighbourhood, the characters, the make-up or even construction of the house and give us a general idea what was words come to mind. Look up on the net to see what Google Autocomplete gives you when you pull up the name of your city. Write something like "Best thing to see in ____ is" and see what autocomplete gives you. You may be surprised.
For example, if you write "Rocky Mount NC is" Google autocompletes with "what county" and "fair". So obviously that's what people look up.

and be careful if there is one or more with the same name. as mentioned above, we have had people go to NC and not VA. We also have people calling from Texas from another inn with the same name, that is why I have the state name on everything all the time.
Changing the name is a big decision, and it can be a great one! In Mexico I am sure there are plenty of "El" whatevers, so consider leaving the out of the name and getting ahead alpha-numerically.

 

[Generic]

Our original name came from a feature of the house. The current (second B&B)'s name is a variation on that name but reflects the size and character of the house. Many people have told us that the name is one of their decisions to choose this place.
Sit down one day and look around at the neighbourhood, the characters, the make-up or even construction of the house and give us a general idea what was words come to mind. Look up on the net to see what Google Autocomplete gives you when you pull up the name of your city. Write something like "Best thing to see in ____ is" and see what autocomplete gives you. You may be surprised.
For example, if you write "Rocky Mount NC is" Google autocompletes with "what county" and "fair". So obviously that's what people look up..

Our original name came from a feature of the house. The current (second B&B)'s name is a variation on that name but reflects the size and character of the house. Many people have told us that the name is one of their decisions to choose this place.
Sit down one day and look around at the neighbourhood, the characters, the make-up or even construction of the house and give us a general idea what was words come to mind. Look up on the net to see what Google Autocomplete gives you when you pull up the name of your city. Write something like "Best thing to see in ____ is" and see what autocomplete gives you. You may be surprised.
For example, if you write "Rocky Mount NC is" Google autocompletes with "what county" and "fair". So obviously that's what people look up.

and be careful if there is one or more with the same name. as mentioned above, we have had people go to NC and not VA. We also have people calling from Texas from another inn with the same name, that is why I have the state name on everything all the time.
Changing the name is a big decision, and it can be a great one! In Mexico I am sure there are plenty of "El" whatevers, so consider leaving the out of the name and getting ahead alpha-numerically.
.

The other Rocky Mount didn't show an autocomplete

 

[TheBeachHouse]

There are four B&Bs on our street. 3 of them, the name starts with "Sea."

 

[EmptyNest]

We don't like the name of our place, but it has been an inn for over 100 years. Not changing it. But we did change the names of the rooms. They had ship names like 'Wheel House' and 'First Mate's Quarters.' We aren't ship people. We are beach people. We named them after the beaches in town.
What kind of people do you want? What do people google to find you?
Name of Beach Inn. Hotel at Name of Beach..

Property has 1 bed room apartments (multiple) with bath, kitchen, living, dining room, and a laundry! area. (when we sign, I will share the history of the place).
Since these are apartments, we are anticipating people who want to stay a week or longer (since getting there involves an international flight- there are locals, but currently most are foreigners). There are also many snowbirds- so we would also appeal to them, apartment with some security/company/in town. And they would be there from 1-5 months, depending.
As far as google searches, key words might be maya, beach, gulf coast Mexico, (name of town), flamingos, fishing, (name of closest big town, and then major city name) ruins, local ruin names, (all in Spanish and English).
So this brings me to the "hotel" part. Inn? Guesthouse? Apartments? Lodging? Motel? Etc.
.

if apts and long term rental,i would not use inn for part of the name as that conjurs up certain ideas. somethign like Casa Name Rentals or lodging. comes to me as more appropriate.

 

[Joey Camb]

I wanted to rename the place. But the reviews were good and it had been here 17 years already.
Consider how easy it is to say again and again on the phone. Does it translate well? Does it tell the guest what they might get? Does it conjure up happy feelings? Maybe it's just the name of the town or the area so it has built in seo.
Casa Playa (at the ABC restaurant).

most round where I am start with A as then you are at the top of the Alphabetical list - however we bought ours as a going concern - had been a bb since about 1970 with a good reputation we wern't going to mess with that, just when people ask where did it come from ? answer is no idea but there is a place with the same name in Surrey ie another county so I think the people came from there.

 

[happykeeper]

Here is something different that I think is worth thinking about.
We chose our name because it had a series of meanings to us. It is our business, our baby, and we felt it should have a name that meant something to us. That name is a big part of our brand, even though few folks from the mainland know how to pronounce it. It has been invaluable for the long term soul of who we are. We have songs written about us because of our name. Do you think the FOUR SEASONS just came up with a name because of what letter it started with? IT is a brand and look what they did with it. It is synonymous with he highest quality you can get. Oops- soap box alert
Having said all that- our website does not use our name- it is designed to be SEO friendly.

 

[Madeleine]

Here is something different that I think is worth thinking about.
We chose our name because it had a series of meanings to us. It is our business, our baby, and we felt it should have a name that meant something to us. That name is a big part of our brand, even though few folks from the mainland know how to pronounce it. It has been invaluable for the long term soul of who we are. We have songs written about us because of our name. Do you think the FOUR SEASONS just came up with a name because of what letter it started with? IT is a brand and look what they did with it. It is synonymous with he highest quality you can get. Oops- soap box alert
Having said all that- our website does not use our name- it is designed to be SEO friendly..

That's excellent advice to use an seo friendly url for the website rather than the actual inn name, which ends up showing up well anyway after awhile.

 

[Arks]

My place's name is, for most people, unpronounceable and unspellable. The name of my town is likewise long and hard to spell. So for my URL I selected something most people could remember and spell correctly if they typed it in manually.
In other words, the URL does not have to be the inn name. It can be something easier to remember and enter.

 

[Joey Camb]

Here is something different that I think is worth thinking about.
We chose our name because it had a series of meanings to us. It is our business, our baby, and we felt it should have a name that meant something to us. That name is a big part of our brand, even though few folks from the mainland know how to pronounce it. It has been invaluable for the long term soul of who we are. We have songs written about us because of our name. Do you think the FOUR SEASONS just came up with a name because of what letter it started with? IT is a brand and look what they did with it. It is synonymous with he highest quality you can get. Oops- soap box alert
Having said all that- our website does not use our name- it is designed to be SEO friendly..

That's excellent advice to use an seo friendly url for the website rather than the actual inn name, which ends up showing up well anyway after awhile.
.

plus not too long as you have to put it on things - ie keyrings etc

 

[JBloggs]

Here is something different that I think is worth thinking about.
We chose our name because it had a series of meanings to us. It is our business, our baby, and we felt it should have a name that meant something to us. That name is a big part of our brand, even though few folks from the mainland know how to pronounce it. It has been invaluable for the long term soul of who we are. We have songs written about us because of our name. Do you think the FOUR SEASONS just came up with a name because of what letter it started with? IT is a brand and look what they did with it. It is synonymous with he highest quality you can get. Oops- soap box alert
Having said all that- our website does not use our name- it is designed to be SEO friendly..

I disagree with the four seasons. This is a one off establishment, small family owned. Or maybe I don't know my history, perhaps four seasons began this way too?
Whatever the name it needs to fit easily onto things. it needs to be something you don't sicken of, it needs to be something people pronounce and remember, or else a shortened version of it. And not a shorted version that ends up being weird.
I love that you have songs written about your name Happy, that is awesome. One place I stayed in Costa Rica (using the spanish here for the orig post) Sueno Del Mar, was a name that was "dreamy" to me and I still remember it and day dream about it...