“Silent Hill” If you’re not familiar with this movie title, it was a horror film released in 2006. Our experience with Damires Hills was not as horrifying but more of a dreaded experience. Indeed, when we arrived at this nature retreat, we were welcomed by a silent breeze and the sound of distant chimes, gentle rustling of the tree leaves and occasional creaking sound of bamboo…which seemed relaxing and peaceful. Much like how horror films start. The horror started after checking in. We had some time to freshen up before a scheduled meeting, so we proceeded to our rooms. Upon entering you will be welcome by the musty stench of the room and when you open the tap and shower the odor of the water was a warning to not take this by mouth. They did provide two small bottles of bottled water, which was not enough after a long trip. Fortunately, the smell of the tap water improved after running the tap and shower for a few minutes. I also noticed the wooden soap holder which was full of molds while trying to freshen up. Then much to my surprise there were no available towels in the room. I had to request for this, which arrived 30 minutes after, that is after reminding them twice that no towels were provided. When the towels arrived, these were moist and had a certain odor like when laundry is not properly done. Upon unraveling the towel, it was tattered and full of stains that suggests this has not been laundered well or at least replaced if the stains were not removed after proper laundering. Good thing a brought an Arena quick dry sports towel for emergency use. Hurriedly, after a quick freshening up I proceeded to the meeting venue. We didn’t have time to check the beds and the cabinets to see what was lurking within. We had a decent lunch spread and mirienda during our meeting breaks. Nothing great. I was expecting Iloilo cuisine at its finest or at least dishes to remember since there was so much hype about Damires Hills. The forested areas were nice, but we noticed the pools were poorly maintained with unclear pool water and floating leaves. At night fall the pathways to our rooms and to another venue for dinner were poorly lighted and quite spooky. We had dinner near one of the pools which again was poorly lit and the dinner buffet was mediocre at best. One of my companions even commented that the dinner spread had no theme at all, just a mixture of dishes that didn’t please the palate. After the dinner, we had some short activities and fellowship. Our friends from Iloilo were so kind to bring some good pulutan for this. Together with the cold SMB this was a respite from previous disappointments with Damires HIlls. Apparently, the pool bar didn’t have any simple complimentary pika-pika like peanuts and the like. After a few hours, some of us decided to call it a night after a long day of travel and work meetings. Going back to the room, the musty smell had decreased after airing the room for about an hour. This is the time I noticed the cabinets
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