Two buildings, one Cottage Street

Mervin E. Pindar opened 89 Cottage Street as the Hotel Neville in 1890, catering to the railroad trade near the Wickham Avenue depot. Commercial men and railroad crews paid $1.50 a day for a clean room close to the tracks. It later became the Hotel Lee, and then Mary's Hotel, a century of working accommodation before we began the restoration.

Francesco "Frank" Palo built 52 Cottage Street in 1910 as the Columbus Hotel, "remodelled with everything new, meals served at all hours, European or American plan." The dining room could be let for dancing, dinners, and weddings. It was a full-service neighborhood hotel at the heart of a busy downtown. By mid-century it had become the Diana Hotel; we have restored its first name.

We bought both buildings in disrepair and restored them ourselves, new systems behind original brick, refinished floors, thoughtfully furnished suites. The goal was honest character: keep what gives a building its identity, replace what was merely neglected. No false antique staging, no boutique theatre.

The Columbus Hotel is the name the 1910 building was born with, and the name it carries again. Two Cottage Street addresses, one operation, run with the care and attention that a small, owner-managed property can give. Come as a guest; leave with a sense of the street.