The game of naming your vacation rental property

Naming your vacation rental property will have a bearing on its future success. But have you accurately pinned down its property type?

A rose may well be a rose by any other name, but not when you are choosing a name for your vacation rental property. In fact, the name you choose can have a big impact on your vacation rental’s popularity as we’ve mentioned before in our Homes and Rooms blog. I was reminded of this by a recent stay in a mobile home. Or was it a cabin? Could it have been a chalet? Or even a gite (it was in France)? To be honest, it could have been any one of these. The brochure was not a great help in naming it, referring only to ‘your accommodation…’ This is a crucial distinction. I know people who would not be seen dead in a mobile home but would be quite happy in a cabin or gite. Maybe my friends are just too snobby!

Only 3 seconds to capture attention

The importance of getting the name right was brought home to me again when I came across an interesting item posted at Tripping.com. This also focused on the importance of naming your vacation rental. ‘With over five million vacation rentals around the globe, and only three seconds to capture the attention of potential guests,’ they point out, ‘the importance of creating a dialed brand is critical. ‘A brand should quickly and clearly define the experience or product, with the actual name being very much central.’ Take a look at our independent blog for some more thoughts on branding. The Tripping.com research raises interesting points about the importance of property type and the part it plays in naming. According to them, far and away the most popular among guest searches is ‘villa’. Depending on the kind of property you have, your options could include cabin, cottage, mansion, beach house, mobile home, barn, penthouse, townhouse, log cabin, bungalow or duplex. Even more, if you happen to own a castle!

Naming conjures up an image

As real estate agents are acutely aware, each description conjures up an image which can play a big part in swaying  prospective guests. With a penthouse, for example, a guest might expect commanding views and a high level of luxury, even exclusivity. A log cabin will make many people think of something that’s cosy and rustic, but not cutting edge style. Whichever description you choose, it needs to be justifiable or guests will feel let down. Bill your place as a ‘castle’ and the very least guests will expect is a tower possibly a moat! My French accommodation could have qualified as a chalet or gite, maybe even a cabin. The wheels which made it mobile were concealed by decking, fencing and vegetation. It looked like a permanent fixture. Had the wheels been visible, it would have to be described as a mobile home, limiting its genuine appeal.

Property name is at the heart of your brand

When Homes and Room subscribers sign up for our services they are asked to classify their property according to type when setting up the free website we provide. With the aid of the images and descriptions provided by them, subscribers can build a professional website projecting their ‘brand’. And at the heart of that brand will be the name of the property. So it is well worth spending time considering the options open to you when naming.  It may even be worth renaming the property for maximum appeal before completing the website set-up. The moral of this, if there is one, is that if your vacation rental is named Rose Cottage, it better have roses and it better be a cottage (rather than, say, a townhouse)!