A Faint Whiff of Grandeur

It must have looked magnificent then, I thought as I gazed at what once have been Diplomat Hotel, that imposing white building up Cabinet Hill. The deserted sanctuary--with its rooms empty of everything aside from some sporadic graffiti, the mold that has crept on its crumbling walls and ceiling, its leaking roof forming a puddle on the main lobby's floor--still has that faint whiff of grandeur that often lingers in the ruins of previously grand but are now deserted places.

Intrigued by the mystery that surrounds it, my sister and I visited Diplomat Hotel on our last trip to Baguio City. I did not sense anything odd while we were there, contrary to reports of sightings of ghosts and other paranormal activity. Like other desolate places, it looked sad to me, and not creepy as some people attest.