Dominican Hill and Retreat House, Baguio

Right after visiting Lourdes Grotto & Kapilya nina Hesus at Maria, we headed to Dominican Hill and Retreat House which is also known as The Diplomat Hotel.

Before this place was turned into a 33-bedroom hotel, it was originally a seminary and retreat house in 1911 that was discovered by the Dominicans. This is why the place is called Dominican Hill. Apparently, way back during World War II there were several refugees, priests & nuns that were killed & beheaded here by the Japanese Army Forces. So when the place got transformed into a hotel during the 1970s, there were claims about hearing eerie sounds during the night, agonizing screams and even seeing ghostly apparitions including that of a headless priest. Scary!

It was a good thing that we came here during broad daylight (and the place is only open from 6AM to 6PM anyway haha). Before getting in, we took a few pictures outside because although creepy I actually fell in love with its haunted look. I’m not sure but I think I’ve seen this in a horror movie before. But hey, it was a beautiful ruin!

Note: sorry but some of the shots got ruined (some are blurred) bec I lost the original DSLR shots and I just got these low-quality version from my Facebook album. Some photos were from my ASUS phone as well. :(

Upon getting in, we were asked to sign a log book but surprisingly there was no admission fee. Amazing!  And on the right side there was a small gallery that showed the historical background of the place. Some of the pictures looked creepy though like there was one about a faith healing on what seemed to be a possessed woman.

So moving on, we found this open area inside the site where there was a century-old indoor fountain covered in moss & plants. I immediately took pictures around it. And yes, I took a lot of pictures but I’ll only share some of them here. Haha.

However, it was just unfortunate that the gate to the second floor was locked. It somehow made me wonder why it was restricted to the public. Like are there ghosts up there? LOL! I would have loved to take a few more pictures of the upper floors.

We also went around the hotel and took a few more (yes, more!) pictures at the garden. And that was when we saw the cute Love Locks Fence and Heritage &Nature Park located behind this abandoned hotel.

Orvic forgot to change the DSLR's setting. LOL

What are you looking for in there, Orvic? Haha

The place did not feel haunted at all. It was actually quite beautiful and this place gave me the most beautiful Instargram photos during my entire stay in Baguio. And here are those instagrammable shots!