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Need help with a name for the hostel opening!!

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fishstick started this discussion 11 years 7 months ago

Hey guys,

So I and my buddy are opening up a hostel in a forested area of california. We have a location I just want to keep hush hush about it before it's actually open. We're next to a lake and it's in the northern part of the state. So I'm looking for a name that is clever, easy to remember (for foreigners who speak another language as well), somewhat funny, and good for SEO. I realize that's what everyone wants but I'm having trouble brainstorming. Maybe something incorporating a funny animal found in NorCal or even something that's somewhat obscene (pushing the limits of what's acceptable to name a business..... or not).

Thanks so much everyone!!

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Rucksack Brian

11 years

Maybe something incorporating a funny animal found in NorCal or even something that's somewhat obscene (pushing the limits of what's acceptable to name a business..... or not).

A local animal might be good, and it gives you a lot of possibilities for a charismatic mascot/logo. You might not want to get too obscene with your name though. I know of several hostels with edgy names, and it worked for them. While many people will love it and HAVE to have the t-shirt, some others may be put off. You may also find it difficult to get listed on some of the booking sites with a slightly obscene name. HW, for example, is very concerned about their reputation lately, so they don’t want to be associated with certain images of hostels. (See here for an example) According to their new contract, they will remove you from the site immediately if they think you might hurt their reputation, and it’s their prerogative not to list you at all if they feel that the name is inappropriate.

That said, aren’t woodpeckers native to NorCal? Maybe that theme could fit both categories for you?

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cmloechl

11 years

Hahaha woodpeckers. Good one Brian :-P Though I find edgy/funny/slightly inappropriate names to be quite funny, i also agree with Brian. The way things are going, you may need to exercise a little caution as your name will be a very difficult thing to change. What you could do is pick a name that sounds 'normal' but then have a funny/obscene tag line that you use in some of your branding/website/tshirts/etc.

There is a famous taco shop called Fuzzys, known for fish tacos, that started in Texas and then spread all over the US. Their original tshirt slogan was 'If it looks like a taco, and tastes like fish, it's got to be a tasty dish. Eat me!' It was on display all over the original Texas shop, but when I asked about that tshirt when I was in their St. Louis location, they said they had to take it down because people were getting offended. The original Texas shop is right next to a university; the St. Louis location was a bit residential. Point being- since you are just starting out, your clientele may vary a bit, especially at the beginning. While you may be going after a certain group of people that would find something obscene funny, if you are running low in the early days and dying for guests to fill your beds and pay the bills, having something too outright may scare them off. But then perhaps over time as you got stronger you could work your marketing more towards your style.

You do have me quite curious where in NorCal this hostel is going! :-) Good luck!

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fishstick

11 years

This is all really good advice guys! I will consider all of this. I'm still not sure where to go with this name though. I really want to retain good SEO with the name. I was thinking of having the name of the location and the word hostel in the name and have some funny clever filler in between, so for example: Yugoslavias' ----- ----- Hostel. Do you have any advice on this being a good tactic for SEO? Thanks so much again! Oh and also before this really happens, I'd love to maybe meet up with some people who have some real experience in the hosteling business. My buddy and I will probably go visit a number of hostels around California before we complete this endeavor and if some of you may be available to speak with, I'd really appreciate it!!!

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tahoesud

11 years

[Edit: Comment removed for profanity]

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cmloechl

11 years

Tahoesud, I'm not sure if you are with Fishstick or not, but either way, language like that is going to get you blocked from these forums pretty quickly. Let's keep it chill.

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uktrail

11 years

I am taking over the former Scottish YHA hostel called Inveraray Youth Hostel as an independent hostel. Have you heard of Inveraray? I thought not. Let's change the name, I thought. Now the hostel lies on a lake, called Loch Fyne. How about Fyne Hostel? Is that too corny? Then I discovered that quite a few of my acquaintances in England had indeed heard of Inveraray, and several had been there. I thought that it is a bit more important to keep the name that regulars are familiar with. So it will be Inveraray Hostel. But it will be a fine hostel!

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kokaneeboy

11 years

Keep it simple. But catchy.

We named ours Whitehouse Backpacker Lodge, as it is a "big white house". All locals and guests just call it the Whitehouse. They enjoy telling people they are staying at the Whitehouse.

Simple and effective.

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kokaneeboy

11 years

How about "Woody's"

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ligold44

9 years

About a name. Perhaps, it'd be easier, you would have been choose the name in the general categories of the objective world: characters / personalities (Che 'hostel, Artur' hostel), terrain (Red Wood), animals (Polite Moose hostel), common symptoms (Forest hostel), food (Plum House ) etc.
About a good traffic. SEO is very common way to get successful traffic. Also except SEO other ways to bring targeted traffic:
A blog's traffic;
Posting on targeted forums;
Social Media Advertising;
Email newsletter ads;
Comments and reviews on targeted websites
and others.
In addition, you have to optimize of your account on travel sites (add on Tripadvisor, Booking)

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