Shortly after we officially launched KOALA in September, it dawned on us that our mascot — a furry little dude with great style and a taste for adventure — was in need of a name. We promptly threw it out to you, the KOALA community, promising one creative winner $2,500 in KOALA travel credits plus $500 in spending money, to be used at the resort of their choice. Pretty soon, the suggestions came rolling in. 

Over the span of six weeks, a whopping 4,986 of you sent us your funniest, silliest, and smartest name ideas. There were puns and wordplay. There were references to ancient languages and faraway lands. There were ideas that made us laugh, and some that elicited applause in our Zoom meetings. We had our work cut out for us when it came to picking a winner, but after some thoughtful deliberation, there was one stand-out favorite: Myles. 

We love Myles because it hints at travel (miles, duh), has a smidgen of cool (Miles Davis), refers to a great historic voyager (the Mayflower’s very own Myles Standish), and comes with an irreverent twist in the form of that unexpected y in the middle. Myles was the clever suggestion of Alabama’s Lydia C., to whom we are thrilled to offer the well-deserved grand prize of a dream KOALA vacation worth $3,000.

“Firstly, thank you to everyone who participated in the contest,” says Mike Kennedy, KOALA CEO, Co-Founder and Chief Punster. “We were thrilled and overwhelmed with the engagement. It was up in the air for a while, but we are so excited to finally land on Myles. What drove our thought process is that Myles reminds you of travel, without being overtly on-the-nose (or snout in this case). We couldn’t have picked a better name to represent our brand.”

Myles came out on top, but we had many strong contenders to select as runners-up. Each of the smart cookies behind these names receives $250 in KOALA travel credits to spend on their next stay with us:

And finally, we’d be remiss not to give an honorable mention to these names for their ingenuity and zeal:

Thanks again from all of us — and from Myles in particular — to the thousands of people who entered our giveaway and came up with great name suggestions! We couldn’t have done it without you, which is why we have awarded every single entrant with $50 in KOALA travel credits to apply toward their next stay.