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Diplomat Hotel Experience

 

A few years back, when Diplomat Hotel in Baguio was not yet opened to the public, I and 7 of my friends, sneaked past security to go spook ourselves out and seek things that go bump in the night. It was almost midnight on October 30, 2003, a day before All Hollow's Eve.

The time, the damp, chilly weather and the fact that we were all sneaking past the guards added to each and everyone's excitement. We took a path on the side of a building near the Diplomat Hotel's main entrance. This was shown to us by one of my friends who had been here previously. Then we had to traverse a steep ravine and climb a barb wired fence. Once in, we all took long breaths of relief because we were able to get past the guards without being seen. Nothing out of the extraordinary happened once we entered the premises, however, tension and fear was felt in the air.

We decided to enter through the hotel's main door leading to the fountain to offer prayers to appease the spirits. As we walked past the big arched windows towards the door, we noticed that another group was also inside doing the same thing and looking for the same adrenaline rush that we were after. We paid no heed and went our own way.

As we reached the old fountain, that's when things started getting weird. I stayed behind as my group headed towards the fountain to offer their prayers. I was a little bit skeptical about all this so I didn't join them in prayer. As soon as they began praying and offering candles, I felt a chill run down my spine as something cold touched my nape. I had goose bumps all over and felt a sudden heaviness on my shoulders. This heavy feeling, something that felt like carrying a backpack full of school books and then some, was felt by me all throughout the whole evening. I felt nauseous and my head suddenly felt prickling pain as well. At this moment, I ran to join my group as they were about to finish their prayers. I didn't tell them anything because I thought it was just the weather that was getting to me. Boy, was I wrong!

The group decided to cover the first floor first and ascend to the other floors once we checked out all the rooms. As we moved past doors, rooms and hallways, we made our way to the staircase to go up the second floor. There, beside the staircase, was an arch where a door was once. A friend pointed out that a shadow of a big man was reflecting on the walls in front of the arch. No one dared to look where the shadow was coming from. The girls from the group started shrieking and taunting us not to go on with the "tour". However, afraid of being called losers or chickens, some of the males in the group urged us to go on.

Two male friends and I, of course, decided to check out where the source of the said shadow was coming from as the group made their way upstairs to wait on the landing. As we walked under the arch, a cold swoosh of air welcomed us. This time, my friends also felt the same heavy feeling I had felt. Then, a mysterious, eerie, voice of a man that sounded like a cross between a bad radio signal and a drunken man's slur was heard by us. It was like he was warning us not to go on. We took this warning and didn't go on searching for the shadow's source. As brave as we were, sometimes when battling the unknown, it is best to leave and retreat. Honestly, yes, we were scared out of our wits by then.

As we joined the other members of our group, Niqui, a female from the group, was heard crying on the last stair before reaching the landing on the second floor. A human's natural instinct is to comfort the sad. The females, being females, huddled around her to comfort her. The reason why she cried was unknown because she remained silent for the remaining hours we were there. She later told us that she saw a priest staring at her and then vanished into thin air. She was so scared and didn't know how to react that's why she just cried it out.

By now, accounts of what happened to us downstairs were known but we remained brave to finish the tour we started. We finished going in and out of the different rooms until we reached the top were a huge crucifix was. The wind was slightly blowing and the moon above illuminated the crucifix in a way that we only saw in horror films. These made everyone decide to go back downstairs and stroll around the surrounding garden.

As we made our way out and reached the hotel's backyard, I noticed that I lost my cell phone (Nokia 7650 to be exact) and its leather holster (the kind that has holes at the back where you loop the holster to your belt to secure it before buckling your belt into place). My phone was secured to my belt via a leather belt holster with magnetic flaps. During the whole time, I didn't bother checking messages nor removed the holster from my belt because we were too preoccupied. I started freaking out because there is no way I could go home without my phone! My parents would have killed me. Also, I was baffled as to how my phone fell off it, holster and all, without me removing it from my belt!

I decided to go back and search the entire hotel for it. Jeff and Raymund, 2 of my closest friends, decided to go with me while the rest of the group sat on the benches at the back of the hotel leading to the garden. Jeff, Raymund and I retraced our steps to retrieve my lost cell phone. We searched high and low but couldn't find it. We scoured the whole place for almost 15 minutes. I gave up because it was getting late and that our friends were waiting for us.

We continued the tour by entering a path going to the farthest side of the hotel's lot. There, we found a wall bordering the residential area behind the hotel. As we circled around it, there was a shrill sound coming from a ringing phone. We tried to look for the source of the sound but to no avail. We reached a huge pine tree where RM, another friend, pointed out that there was a silhouette of a huge man (perhaps the same man from the arch inside the hotel?) hovering the base of the tree. As we looked, we saw the shadow vanished. It seemed like it ran past us because we felt a sudden breeze blowing past us. We decided to check out the tree (huge trees in Philippine folklore means that it might be a dwelling place of spirits). When we reached the tree, another sound from a phone filled the air. We trained our eyes as well to a sudden light emitting from one of the tree's gnarly roots. There, before our eyes was my missing phone! As to how it got there, we didn't know. However, what we know for sure was that no one from our group went out of the hotel building and wandered off to this part of the Diplomat Hotel grounds, let alone snatching it from my belt without me feeling a thing.

As I breathed out a sigh of relief, Claire mentioned that the other group we met on our way in was nowhere to be seen. As we pondered upon this, we realized that we didn't bump into them the whole time we were in the building again, aside from that moment we met them as we went in. This left us spooked so we decided to call it a night and leave the hotel premises immediately.

We took the same steep path going out and as the last group member stepped into view, one of the security guards saw us and shone his flashlight at me. Once the blinding light hit me, the guard took a step back and let out a gasp in surprise. If you had seen him, he looked like he saw a ghost. Pale face, genuine look of terror, and that he almost looked like he was ready to pass out. Then, as soon as this happened, there came a boisterous sound of laughter coming from inside the hotel grounds. We all looked towards the building and thought that the other group was indeed still inside. Once the security guard got hold of himself for composure, we took the liberty to apologize for sneaking in and scaring him as we stepped out of the ravine's landing. He said that it was okay and that a lot of people do it. He also mentioned that he saw us inside while doing his rounds and didn't want to bother us with our ghost hunting. We were stunned but asked him why he got so scared. He mentioned that when he shone the flashlight at me, he saw a shadow getting off my shoulders and running back into the darkness. That's when it hit me and the group members as well. The heavy feeling that I felt since we went in was (maybe) from the shadow the guard had seen jump of my back piggy back riding on me. Imagine a spirit riding on my shoulders the whole time! This got us all spooked out.

We were ready to all move out once and for all. To get away from this haunted place was all we could think of. Without thinking, I jokingly warned the guard not to get spooked again if he saw another group come out. I mentioned that we passed by another group inside on the way in. This gave him another jolt of surprise. Imagine the shock that we all got when he said, "Kagagaling ko din po nagronda sa loob. Sabi ko nga nakita ko po grupo nyo. Pero wala na pong ibang tao sa loob simula kanina nung nakita ko kayo sa may fountain. (I just did my rounds inside. As I told you, I saw your group inside. However, no other people were inside since I saw your group near the fountain.) "

So, where did the group of people we saw go? Had they sneaked out as well without the guard seeing them? Maybe the guard didn't see them because they went out while he was doing his rounds? Where did the laughter we heard come from? Maybe from a party on one of the houses near the premises? Or maybe something else? Well, we will never know. Come to think of it. After what happened, who would want to know anyway?

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, jaded_disciple, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

BlackMurderknot (guest)
 
10 years ago (2014-04-17)
It is very scary if someone saw you with a spirit in your back. 😨 I will totally get freak out if that happen to me. Anyway, great story and you narrated it very nice
Ivanvreid (5 posts)
+1
10 years ago (2013-12-20)
The Diplomat Hotel was built on May 15, 1911 and stands as a memorial ground for the bloody massacre that occurred during World War II. The grand edifice was originally a monastery but was invaded by the Japanese Army in 1941. The sanitarium turned into a horror site when the soldiers beheaded and executed all the townspeople inside the building. The structure received a facelift in the 1970s and became known as the Diplomat Hotel. The Renovation was well received by the townspeople but it didn't seem to thwart the spirits haunting the grounds. Alarming accounts of agonizing cries of terror, apparitions of headless victims, and slamming doors and windows are prevalent amongst the townspeople. One phantom in particular was seen wearing the clothing of a Dominican priest and another was seen parading in a nun's habit. - See more at: http://1stclassfashion.com/edit/2013/10/haunted-hideouts-diplomat-hotel-baguio-city/#sthash.ejjUyeRN.dpuf
jaded_disciple (2 stories) (2 posts)
 
10 years ago (2013-12-16)
Hi all! I admit, after almost a year, it is only now that I logged back in and got to reading your comments. Thank you so much for all your kind words. I'm happy to know that you liked my story.

Anyway, me and my friends never got to investigate the occurrences that happened to us inside the Diplomat Hotel. We were naive back then and we were just seeking out a thrill to satisfy our curiosities. We got more than what we bargained for.

We relied on stories and personal accounts of other people who had the same experiences that we had. However, in the end, we never bothered to know more. It was one of those never-forget-but-never-speak of-moments that me and my friends had.
grastahman (2 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-06-13)
nice story... You told your story well, I can imagine that I was with you in diplomat hotel, the way you told about the details... Excellent mate!
Lord_Manyakol (13 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-04-12)
Cool choice of words mate. Actually I have read a lot of stories here already, but few can only give a good climax to their stories. I suppose it is how you elaborate it. I like the way you narrate your story. Cheers!
v0xp0puli101 (10 stories) (16 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-03-31)
Nicely narrated story!
Really enjoyed reading it.

Yes, I heard a lot about this hotel in Baguio, and just recently I had this friend (former officemate) who's into paranormal group, and said they're planning to visit this place, sometime this summer. Good luck to them.

Best regards,
😉
sds (14 stories) (1436 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-02-07)
Hi jaded_disciple, quite a scary experience you had with your friends. In fact, I was just wondering as to what happened to the other group while reading your narrative when you started explaining the same. As advised by Lilly, the best way to get the information would be contact the guards, who are on continuous duties in the nights. That could give you enormous info on what is going on and perhaps the clue to what was behind your back from the time you entered the hotel until you left. If you do that research and if you could get any further information, please keep us posted.

Regards and respects to you.

SDS
Elgin (5 stories) (35 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-02-04)
Diplomat Hotel is said to be one of the most haunted locations in Baguio City. It is said that during World War 2 this was the location of a religious massacre. Catholics were beheaded by Japanese Soldiers who opposed to the the said religion out of pure malice or just for the thrill of killing. The Number of people killed were many but no exact number was ever counted or documented but most of the people killed were priests and nuns.

To this day a lot of sightings are seen in this location. Even if you stand by where the gate is and just stare at the building you will have a uneasy feeling of someone staring back at you.
LillyPieLindsay (35 posts)
 
11 years ago (2013-02-04)
My first thought as I was reading this was that it would be interesting to talk to the guards and see what they experience. Being that they are there all the time they would probably be a wealth of information! Sounds like you already did though. Do you know the story behind the place as to why its supposedly haunted?

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