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thinking about the hostels name.

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Peter started this discussion 15 years 11 months ago

if there is a chain of the hostels
is it better to have the same name for them ?

is the name much helps to fish the backpacker to the hostel ?

i noticed some names help to fish better than others

lets say '' sleepcheap hostel'' or '' the best from the best hostel'' or
'' down town hostel''

what if one borrows the name from the famous
experienced successful hostels ?
is it permitted ?

what if the hostel will borrow the name from the '' hotels '' which have very good reputation and weight ?

would it sounds good to call the hostel '' Delta'' or '' ibis'' or ''NH'' ?

WOULD IT WORK OUT FOR THE PRESTIGE OF THE HOSTEL to call it by the bname borrowed from these types of hotels chains ?

thank you so much

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Peter

15 years

Of course its a stupid and ridiculous to call the hostel by the giant hotels chain name , just because that name would not be a compliment to the budget accommodation.

Is there administrative responsibility to use the name of another hostel ?
But first of all , I think its worthy to ask
- if there is moral responsibility for this ?

I am thinking about the morality and legality of using the name of the hostel some where in Europe , the hostel , which name is popular some where in America or Australia , and to make this hostel the same or even better standard hostel in the future in the city where you run it.
well , my intuition just tells me that to borrow some other hostels successful name its like to build on some ones foundation , the foundation which is not yours.
even if you are able to make your hostel more better than the ones name you use , it is like a stealing of some ones foundation , right ?

or if you do not run it hospitably enough - then you just more than discredit the good name , right ?

I am sure that if some enthusiast who runs the hostel some where lets say in Asia , will call his hostel by the name '' Backpackers Hostel '' its not a problem at all.
Because there are tenths of hostels called ''Backpackers hostel ''- '' but what if he will call it some thing like a .... I mean the well-known names
which are successful and very famous at the other areas of the world ?

Of course , I wouldn't advise to no body to call his hostel by that or that successful company name .

I am absolutely new to the hostels business , and I think , wouldn't do it by my self , but I would like just to ask if there is administrative or mainly the moral problem if some new hostel suddenly carries the famous big name ?

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Josh Hostels

15 years

I think a hostel chain wouldn't like it if someone else used their trademark. There might not be anything they could do to you legally if they don't own the trademark in your country, but it's better to be on friendly terms with other hostels.

It's better for marketing to be original too. If you make a good hostel your own hostel's name will become famous.

"Backpackers Hostel" isn't a brand name -- it's a generic term so it's okay to use.

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metty9

15 years

This is a slightly different question, but I can't justify putting it in a new thread.

We are currently deciding on a name for our hostel. We are still writing the business plan at the moment and aren't that far down the line but for research purposes etc we really need to sort the name out quite soon.

The hostel will be in a city which currently doesn't have a hostel and so we don't really have any limits in terms of competitors taking away potential names.

However, we are unsure at the moment just what to include in the name. Do we include the terms 'backpacker', 'hostel', 'youth hostel' etc or do we just go for something completely different eg 'the lounge' (ie with no reference to it being a hostel).

The reason I ask is i'm unsure of the current images people imagine of youth hostels. I'm aware that the image is changing and people imagine the standard to be a lot higher now, but we are also concerned with excluding certain customers if we include terms like 'backpackers'.

Has anyon any advice that might help?

Thanks in advance.

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Plakian

15 years

Hi Metty9

Please say where you plan to open the hostel and what countries you think will provide you with the most customers. This information will help to answer your question.

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metty9

15 years

The Hostel will be in England and we would initially guess upto half our customers would be from the UK, the rest would be mainly European.

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Plakian

15 years

I do not think you can use "Youth Hostel" as the name has been trademarked by the YHA.

The word Hostel has other meanings making people think of homes for the homeless, addicts, etc.

Backpackers is safe enough.

So is a name such as "The Lounge".

If you are advertising mainly through flyers and through the booking engines the message will get across, no problem.

Good luck and keep us posted. A UK city with no hostels - intrigued!

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gordo

15 years

it depends on what sort of establishment you're building.

'backpackers' in my experience tend to be a bit more... 'liberal', for lack of a better term. 'hostel' is a very broad term - it can include shelters, 'flashpackers', backpackers... anything with shared accom.

you dont, as aboriginal mentioned, even need to include such a term in the name - you'll be on HW, HB etc. name it after something unique about the hostel, either in its history, its owners, its services. it may seem redundant but name the hostel after the hostel!

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Scotch Argus

15 years

I think it depends a lot who exactly you want to target. e.g. if you think a large chunk of your business will be backpackers then having that in the name would make sense. As a city hostel you probably aren't targeting walkers/ hikers, but if you were then hostel or bunkhouse might be appropriate. Personally i think having onje of these types of terms in your name is beneficial - that's what people search for - the same as having your geographical name in the title. If you call yourself "The Chunky Chicken" say, then people who don't know about your business might have a hard time finding it. Obviously that's where SEO comes in, but I think you have a headstart on google if your location and business type is in the title.

Finally I'd say that whatever you choose make sure that the web addresses are available - preferrably both .co.uk and .com, but also other variations - so if you're Goole Backpackers, also register Goole Hostel, and other variations. I registered our web domain as hostel and backpackers, .co.uk and .com, but didn't register .net - so another business closeby registered .net and put their page up on that.

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santa klaus

15 years

However, we are unsure at the moment just what to include in the name. Do we include the terms 'backpacker', 'hostel', 'youth hostel' etc or do we just go for something completely different eg 'the lounge' (ie with no reference to it being a hostel).

The reason I ask is i'm unsure of the current images people imagine of youth hostels. I'm aware that the image is changing and people imagine the standard to be a lot higher now, but we are also concerned with excluding certain customers if we include terms like 'backpackers'.

I can see your point - dou don´t want to scare away non-backpackers by calling it a "backpackers" but you want something sounding informal enough to attract the few "real" backpackers who visit your (presumably small) town.

"Guesthouse" maybe?

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aboriginalhostel

15 years

IMHO a hostel's name should be

- individual, (i.e. common names should be forgotten),
- catching attention,
- easy to remember,
- good enough to theme the hostel regarding the name,
- preferably one, max two words.

Targeting your clientele is important, though not necessarily has to be included in your name. Description and content will help people decide.

Also I think it's important if people can find your property without entering the location, so according to Scotch Argus' example it should be easy to find for the term Chunky Chicken hostel, instead of ie. Chunky Chicken hostel London, as booking engines focusing on terms like hostel London, which will be harder to compete with.

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