Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Creepy, beautiful

Over the long weekend, I went with a group of friends out of town. It was perfect, as I badly needed a vacation. One of the highlights of that trip was when we visited Diplomat Hotel, an old and abandoned hotel at the top of the mountain. The structure was first built as a monastery, I believe.


Once inside, the hotel had a haunted feel to it. Just looking at all those rooms and the hallways is enough to give you goosebumps. I can just imagine the hotel in its glory days, with rooms full of tourists. Now, there's just dead silence all around.



And we visited Diplomat Hotel in the late afternoon, the sun casting an eerie glow on the decaying structure.


The hotel also has two fountains inside it. I just love those open spaces inside buildings that let you have views of the sky. You don't see those architectural designs in modern boxy buildings anymore.




Of course, I couldn't resist having my friend take my picture while reading Sarah Waters's wonderful gothic novel Fingersmith.


P.S. Thanks, R, for taking those wonderful pictures.

18 comments:

mental wayfarer said...

I love old buildings. I think, aside from being functional spaces, they are compositions--- framing sky or landscape, playing with lights and shadows. That's why The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand is a favorite; I'm in love with Howard Roark.:)

Peter S. said...

Hi, mental wayfarer! Exactly!

LoF said...

"Shake Rattle Roll XV" I can see it already....

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Peter, what awesome photos. Love looking at creepy places like this (still somehow beautiful).

Jeane said...

It looks like it was such a beautiful building once (I love the open courtyard) but walking into old, abandoned dark buildings like that scares me silly.

serendipity_viv said...

oooh I would love this. I love old scary buildings.

Charlie said...

I agree that it once was majestic, but the inside gives me the creeps too—especially since I recently finished Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House!

Those open courtyards are still very popular in Mexico and I'm sure in other parts of the world.

Thanks for sharing.

gege said...

gege likes these a lot. where is this, peter?

christa @ mental foodie said...

oh i'd love to go there for a photoshoot!!

do you mind me asking where it is (city/state/country)?

Unknown said...

Awesome pictures of what must be an even more awesome place. Although I probably wouldn't have to guts to stay there as the dusk falls. Places like that dreep me out because I always think they're haunted.

Ryan said...

Gorgeous photos. There is such an atmosphere to them that you can almost feel through the screen. Thanks for sharing.

Portobello's coffee said...

it's this place:
http://www.cityofpines.com/dominicanhill.html

Anonymous said...

Creepy pics but well done. I especially liked that one in the middle of two hallways. Missed seeing this place in Baguio, though.

Mark David said...

By the way, your post title reminds me of the movie Crazy, Beautiful. Have you seen that? I loved it :)

Anonymous said...

Hey Peter!

So you've decided to have a vacation in Baguio! When was this? Did you make it in time for the Baguio Flower Festival?

I haven't been to the Diplomat Hotel, even though I live not that far from Baguio. It's become more of a tourist attraction, rather than a haunted hotel.

Hope you enjoyed Baguio!

Cheers!

Peter S. said...

Hi, Recis! No, we didn't go there during the Flower Festival (pout, pout). We went there for Holy Week.

Anonymous said...

Nice! Haven't had the chance to go to Baguio just for sightseeing.

Diplomat looks eerie. My boss stayed there before it closed and their group had a lot of ghost sightings!

Peter S. said...

Hi, Sumthinblue! I envy your boss. That must have been an experience!