Lay My Hat

I think its a very fair and non-confrontational note. Even the final paragraph which suggests passing enquiries between you is positive and friendly.

But concentrating on the main topic in hand and not all the fluffy stuff around it, I'd suggest breaking this out separately, make it the last para and perhaps making it a bit more forthright. Adapt as you see fit.

Martha wrote:I wondered if you would consider perhaps an alteration to the name of your chalet, in order to avoid potential confusion for guests?

Becomes

Martha wrote:In light of all this, may I respectfully suggest that you change the name of your Chalet as soon as possible to avoid the inevitable confusion.

I agree with Richard - your ending allows them to take time to consider and possibly forget about it (until the inevitable problems start to happen). The longer they leave it, the more invested in that name they'll become and less willing to change it.

Apart from that it reads well and would do the trick for me if I were in their shoes.

I also agree with e-richard about the ending, but your message overall is most emphatically not confrontational, just neighbourly, especially the suggestion of future collaboration.

Thanks so much all! Richard thats a really good way of putting it, I will use that. The confusion is indeed inevitable!

I managed to find someone who knows them and it turns out that despite the unusual name they are actually French, though fluent in English, so I'm rewriting in French, and they have had the place for a very long time which adds a level of tact to be needed.

However the son, that my friend will introduce me to, works in real estate in Geneva so I'm hoping he'll understand the issue. I did search thoroughly in Chamonix for other chalets with the name before choosing it and there were none that I could find at the time! It's not as if they have to change the actual name either. Just the name they rent it under.

"The longer they leave it, the more invested in that name they'll become " This is a good point and I will mention it, that it would be best for us both if it's sorted right now.
Thanks again all. Will keep you posted!

All good! They understood the issue. The place has been called that for generations, just never rented before, but they were understanding and have added an extra word to their chalet, which is enough, I'm happy with that.

I'm really glad because I was starting to have some very confusing conversations with people who thought they'd booked in here, when in fact they were with the other place. And I think someone showed up here looking for it the other day. It would have been a nightmare so I'm very relieved it's sorted.

Glad it's been sorted satisfactorily.