Our Name | Lodging | Friday Harbor
Why the new name?
We were happily rolling along as ELEMENTS hotel & spa when we got a letter from an attorney. He explained that Westin Hotels had a brand in development called “Element” and that they trade marked the name, and anything similar. He cordially requested that we cease and desist from using our name. After a brief conversation with our attorney, we concluded that there was just no point in trying to struggle against this. We asked for, and were given, a reasonable time to complete the change. Through the whole process, the Westin attorney was beyond reasonable and accommodating.
It’s easy to fall into looking at this a David and Goliath battle. The truth, however, is that Westin did their due diligence and trademarked their brand. We did not. It was reasonable to assume that customers may experience confusion in this case, and that’s realy the bottom line for something like this.
Why Earthbox motel and spa?
We struggled mightily to arrive at a new name. We wanted to avoid anything with “Friday Harbor” in it, to eliminate confusion with all the rest of the hotels on San Juan Island. Ideally, we wanted something earlier in the alphabet than “Friday” in order to come up in alphabetic directories earlier than our competition. Also, all our rooms are named after the natural elements that inspire us (earth, sea, sun, sky, wind, water). They are decorated around these themes. We wanted a name that made sense with these choices. Finally, we wanted a name that stood out as different and played up the unique lodging concept we created here: a vintage motor inn with modern, more upscale, interiors and amenities. We are proud to preserve our motel heritage, and our previous name didn’t really play that up dramatically enough.
Earthbox, as a lodging name, is completely unexpected. Who uses the word “box” to describe motel rooms in a positive way? We’re not trying to be something we’re not, though. We are a 1960’s vintage motor inn. Motel rooms are essentially boxes. If that’s not something you can tolerate, accept, even embrace, you may not be happy at Earthbox. And we want all our guests to be happy. Sometimes that may mean finding a different place to stay (consider Bird Rock Hotel, for example). The “Earth” in Earthbox also relates back to the natural environment that makes San Juan Island so special, and to the room names that reflect those natural elements we love so dearly.
The end result is a name that causes people to stop and think about what it is we are trying to say, what we might offer. It sets us far apart from the competition and even helps with the message to our customers that we are as proud of the motel aspects we preserved as we are of the upscale offerings, amenities and design choices we added. In short, Earthbox accurately describes what we are as a lodging and who we are as San Juan Islanders.
