One Young (née Mayfair Hotel) | 5 fl | Complete

[panamaniac]

To bring this back to the Mayfair Hotel...here is an alternate timeline that I would have loved to see: what if the Mayfair Hotel had been salvageable and had ended up like one of these 'reclaimed' hotels:
- The Heuther Hotel - eg predominantly a restaurant with some short-term apartments (not to mention the Original Princess)
- The Waterloo Hotel - eg a boutique hotel with restaurant space
- The Drake Hotel - every hipster's fantasy.

Could it have redefined the Downtown? Would we imagine downtown Waterloo without the Heuther or a similar establishment?

There was a window of over 30 years for this conversion to happen and it didn't take place. Finally, with a lot of incentives someone stepped in, but unfortunately it was too late. So many years of neglect had taken its toll. In terms of redefining downtown, while the Huether would be sorely missed if it were to be gone (knock on wood), I don't think it would make much of a difference in the long run. There are so many bars, coffee shops and breweries already. 

Don't forget that Downtown still has the Walper.  The old hotel building at King and Queen (I've forgotten - was it the American Hotel?) also has lots of potential, although I worry that it too might succumb to "demolition by neglect" - the mess at the end that had the fire is not looking very promising.