Fodor's Expert Review Byrnes Block
Gastown
Notable Building
Free
After the 1886 Great Fire, which wiped out most of the fledgling settlement of Vancouver, George Byrnes built what is now Vancouver's oldest brick building. It now houses shops and offices. But for awhile, this two-story building was Vancouver's top luxury hotel, the Alhambra Hotel, charging a dollar a night. The site of Deighton's original saloon, east of the Byrnes Block, is the starting point from which all Vancouver street addresses begin.
