Commercial Hotel

340 Cambie is a four-storey brick and stone Edwardian style commercial building built circa 1898.

The Commercial Hotel would have been intended for commercial travellers and tourists. This building has always been a hotel with ancillary services, including baths, a tobacco outlet, a barber shop and cafe.

The heritage value of the Commercial Hotel lies in the historic relationship between this area and the economy of early Vancouver. The Klondike gold rush of 1898-1900 heralded a boom that lasted with minor interruptions until the First World War. It forms an important end to the Flack Block located at the corner of Hastings and Cambie Streets, built from the proceeds of the Klondike Gold Rush.

This building is a fine example of the transition from the American Richardsonian Romanesque style to Edwardian Commercial. It also reflects the change in public taste from the highly decorated facades of the Victorian period to the more refined ornamentation of the Edwardian era.

Source

Canada's Historic Places

More information

http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=10663&pid=0