French Chalet Names: 5 Tips on Naming Your Business

Deciding on a name for your rental property business can be tricky.

Obviously, you need to like the name, which will be around for a while. Also, a “good” or “bad” name can have a tangible impact on the effectiveness of your marketing.

In this post, we’re diving into the relevant considerations and providing you with some practical inspiration for superb ski chalet rental property names.

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NB. our experience is in naming properties in the French Alps, but this advice can also be applied to properties in other locations.

• Ensure your chosen name works in the languages of your target audience. With OVO Network, for example, we’ve ensured it’s easy to spell in English and French to appeal to the international market and our French guests.
• Ensure the name is:
  • Easy to pronounce to aid word-of-mouth referrals 
  • Simple to spell and thus be easily searchable
  • ‘Easy on the ear’ so the property sounds inviting – the briefer the better
  • Appropriate in all targeted tongues – what works in one language may cause offence in another!

• Define the type of property in the name e.g. ‘chalet’, ‘mas’, ‘villa’, ‘lodge’, ‘loft’ or ‘maison’.

• What’s unique to your property? Are there some well-known or admired locations nearby? 

Check out these examples from some of our properties:

• The owner’s favourite cycle route inspired the name Chalet Joux Verte.
• Chalet Riparian was so called as it sits between two different mountain streams.
• A local ski run that the owner’s family all love helped name Chalet Tolar.

• Try potential chalet names in Google and steer clear of commonly occurring ones, especially if used by others in your local area. 
• Personal, unique and unusual are best for search. Take ‘Chalet les Clarines’ – a lovely name, but a Google search returns 99 900 results! 

• Check your handles (ie property name) will be available to use across all social media channels. 

• Including the name of your resort or location is unnecessary and could also lead to odd-looking copy on certain listing sites. For example, Chalet Sunshine La Clusaz may appear as Chalet Sunshine La Clusaz, La Clusaz, which reads like an error.

Rental property name ideas and inspiration from OVO Network chalets…

• Food and drink: Think of well-known recipes, dishes or drinks from your locality. 
• Celebrities: Could any prominent local artists, actors or sportspeople from your area be a source of inspiration?
• Activities: Consider exciting nearby activities or sports equipment. Chalet Mousqueton translates to carabiner in English, a great choice for a property located in close proximity to the La Clusaz Via Ferrata.
• Flora and fauna: Chalet Roses des Alpes is named after the stunning climbing roses adorning the property throughout summer. Likewise, Chalet Alyssum is named after a pretty flowering herbaceous plant.
• Local dialect: La Ferme du Gran Shan is named as such due to its location above two large (Grand) fields (champs), which in local patois sounds like ‘GranChan’. Chalet Pralor Le Nova and Chalet Pralor Le Peille are two semi-detached properties on a renovated farm in the Aravis, the names denoting where the sun rises and sets and where the cattle or farmer and family lived in bygone times.
• Health and wellbeing: Chalet Bonnevie (good life) was an established property rental business, proudly topping Google listings, which would be more difficult to achieve nowadays.
• Make it up: We’ve seen chalet names designed by combining owner’s children’s names and mixing letters to form unique titles, like for Chalet Behansa.

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