1905
The Royal Hotel at 619 Merchant Street
The Royal Hotel at 619 Merchant Street (the corner of Merchant Street and Brooking Street now Bogalay-zay Street) built in 1905. Now the Gamon Pwint department store. It was once one the three top hotels in the city, together with the Strand and Minto Mansions and prided itself on being the "most modern", with the first electric lift of any hotel. The handsome restaurant downstairs was the scene of many historic meetings. The original owner, JW Darwood, also built the Strand Hotel and the Rangoon tramway (the first trams ran direct from the Strand to the Shwedagon). Unfortunately all the external and internal details (like the grand teak staircases and original lifts) are gone.
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