Deserted Places: The haunted Diplomat Hotel in the Philippines

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Built on a hill with a panoramic view overlooking Baguio City, the Diplomat Hotel is considered one of the most haunted places in the Philippines. Its history dates back to 1911 when it was constructed as a retreat house by the Dominican Order in a 17-hectare land previously belonging to Americans.

From its inauguration in 1915 and for 2 years it was used as a college "Collegio del Santissimo Rosario", but due to lack of students it was converted back to a retreat house. During World War II, the building gave refuge to people fleeing from the Japanese who bombed it and its surroundings.

After the war, the old convent underwent a reconstruction which finished in 1948 when it opened as a 33-bed hotel, while retaining some components from the past, like its large white stone cross. During the 1970's the hotel was managed by Antonio “Tony” C. Agpaoa, an entrepreneur and faith healer who used the hotel to treat patients using psychic surgery, "operating" on his conscious patients with his bare hands, without leaving a trace of any incision. While some considered him a fraud, people from all over the world would visit Baguio City to be healed inside the Diplomat Hotel.

The hotel finally shut down and left abandoned in 1982 when Agpaoa died at the age of 42. Even since the Diplomat Hotel was open, people would report hearing strange noises and seeing headless apparitions and those sightings would continue after the hotel shut down, giving it the reputation of one of the most haunted places in Baguio City. People would experience screams, rattling and clanging sounds alternating with total silence while the derelict condition of the hotel added to the eerie atmosphere. Some said those were the spirits of Agpaoa and his patients while others believe it were the restless spirits of those killed in the war such as beheaded priests and nuns.

Since 2005,the Diplomat Hotel belongs to Baguio City which began a restoration project for the building and the surrounding area. In 2013 it was declared a historical site and today it can be rented for weddings and other events.

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