Any taxi driver in Baguio can take you to fragrance entrepreneur Joel Cruz’s mansion in Camp John Hay.
Dubbed the White House of the Lord of Scents, it has become a landmark for its massive scale—a 3,000-sq m, four-level building with a glass tower that encases a cascading crystal chandelier.
THE GOOD news about Baguio City is that Camp John Hay remains open to tourists who want to see what residents say are the last few green spaces in the mountain resort.
Just this year, Freddie Alquiros, executive committee chair of Baguio’s annual Panagbenga Flower Festival and former COO of Camp John Hay, has gone on two cruises.
Baguio City’s tourist season has officially started this month with the annual mining convention and a golf tournament ushering in at least 15,000 visitors.
Every trip to Baguio is a journey into the past. All of us remember a summer capital that was different from the way it looks now, depending on our age.
Anyone visiting this former US hill station in Baguio City would have difficulty missing the controversial mansion owned by eccentric entrepreneur Joel Cruz aka The Lord of Scents.