The Diplomat Hotel is still standing alone on the Dominican Hill, erupting sinister message in the air. From dark history to decades-old haunting legends, everything has surrounded its limits. That’s why it’s recalled as the most haunted place in the Baguio City on the Philippines’ Luzon island.
The History Of The Dominican Hill Retreat House–Diplomat Hotel:
The Diplomat Hotel was closed to the public in 1987 after the owner’s tragic death. But the root of its haunting legends goes deep in the distant past. The existence of this hotel structure belongs to the 1910s.
In 1913, the Dominican Hill Retreat House―which is now commonly known as the Diplomat Hotel―was built atop a hill in the famed Philippine City of Pines. With the outbreak of World War II, it became a camp for refugees escaping the Japanese army, but was eventually invaded. The Japanese secret police, the Kempeitai, committed terrible acts of brutality, massacring, raping and torturing many of the inhabitants, and even decapitating nuns and priests.
In the 1970s, the wartorn building was converted to the sophisticated and beautiful Diplomat Hotel, but the hotel was shut down by 1987, and left abandoned.
Paranormal Claims About The Haunted Diplomat Hotel In Baguio:
During the time when Diplomat Hotel was still in operation, employees and guests used to claim to have heard strange noises and to see ghostly apparitions inside the building. They even claimed to see headless figures carrying a platter with their severed damaged head on it, walking along the corridors wailing for justice.
Some assert that these ghostly apparitions could be the ghosts of those nuns and priests who were beheaded by the Japanese soldiers during World War II.
The reality is that this eerie-looking abandoned building is still infamous for the sightings of those headless apparitions. Local residents living nearby recite that they often witness the headless ghostly figures roaming the grounds of Diplomat Hotel and hear the doors banging at late night, despite the fact that the abandoned structure now doesn’t have any door.
A Blood-Curdling Story Of The Diplomat Hotel:
There is a popular story from the early 1990’s that a group of freshly graduate students from a renowned high school in Baguio enter the Diplomat hotel to enjoy a night of laughter and booze. But all didn’t go with the plan.
Their “drinking session” started off well until suddenly one of their friends starts to talk in a different language and in a different voice, expressing them to leave from the building area immediately.
One of them even said that he had seen ghostly figures by the windows of the old abandoned hotel. They started to run dragging their “possessed” friend along with them, and upon reaching several hundreds of meters away from the entrance of the hotel yard, their friend seemed coming back to his normal state. Since this incident, people still keep their distance from the hotel even during the daytime.
The Diplomat Hotel As A Paranormal Tour Destination In Philippines:
Some believe the Diplomat Hotel is cursed while many find it as an adventure paranormal destination. People from all around come to visit this place and to collect new experiences of haunted lands. If you are also looking for such adventures, then the Diplomat Hotel in Baguio will perfectly fit your needs.
The site of the Dominican Hill Retreat House is now undergoing rehabilitation through the efforts of the city government. The whole property on which it stands has been renamed as the Dominican Heritage Hill and Nature Park. A panoramic view of the city unfolds from its vantage point, the stone crucifix on the outdoor patio of the hotel’s second floor.
Know Before You Go:
It is advisable to take a cab to get to the infamous ruin. Cabs are easily accessible and abundant in Baguio city. There is a small cafeteria outside of the main building for anyone who gets hungry. The site is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. But we strictly advise you to not go to this place alone in the dark. Because no one exactly knows what’s going there!
