REVIEW : Bliss Homestay in Baguio City

Posted by Prime Sarmiento

I went on a personal writing retreat early this month in Baguio and thanks to its cool weather and right vibe, I managed to finish a couple of blog posts, the first draft of my graduate thesis proposal, and an analysis piece that I submitted to a news agency. Those five days were a time of productivity and creativity and this wouldn’t have been possible if I didn’t stay in Bliss Homestay.

Baguio is the Philippines’ summer capital, with temperature always below 30 degrees Celsius,  and hordes of tourists usually come here in the months of March to May to escape  Manila’s heat. This has spawned a cottage industry – known as “transient homes”.  Families  rent out their rooms (or their whole house in some cases)  to transients looking for cheaper places to stay as a decent hotel room in Baguio will cost at least P1,000 pesos per person (about 20 U.S. dollars) a night.  Transient rooms will only cost half of that or even less.

Bliss Homestay is  one such transient home. It’s a flat rented out by  Jim and Shanti Ward  (the couple behind the renown Bliss vegetarian café).  For just 400 pesos a night per person (that’s roughly eight U.S. dollars) ,  I got myself a bed , bathroom with hot and cold shower, a writing space (a  chair and table where I put my netbook), a fireplace to keep me warm when temperature drops to below 20 degrees at night and even my own meditation corner (Jim is a Buddhist,  so he has put a small altar here with Buddhist books, incense holder,  zafu pillow  and pictures of  the Lord Buddha and Buddhist monks).  I sit in this corner  in the morning and at night to pray. I even borrowed a yoga mat from Shanti so I can do some sun salutations in the morning. The price doesn’t include breakfast though. But for an additional 75 pesos (1.50 U.S. dollars),  Jim and Shanti  will prepare a simple breakfast of toasted whole wheat bread, jam, peanut butter and coffee (or tea).

The place is spacious enough to fit a group of six,  although I’m quite happy to stay there on my own.  It’s located in a quiet residential area surrounded by pine trees.  It’s accessible as  the house is located within the public transport route and I just have to wait outside the gate to take a jeep that will bring me to the mall (about ten to 15 minutes away).

I like that the place is away from the frenzy of Session Road and not that near the shopping mall, reducing the temptation to just quit writing and go malling.  Best of all, Bliss Homestay  doesn’t have stuff that are   major time wasters – cable tv,  internet connection and a telephone (but you can use your cellphone here), keeping me in focus.  No wonder that this place has, for the past two years, hosted those who just need to get  away from all distractions -visiting Buddhist monks,  artists  (one popular Filipina actress stayed here  to practice some lines)  and even a doctoral student  who  is writing her dissertation.

Bliss Homestay isn’t for everyone though. Jim and Shanti don’t require their transients to be vegetarians but the latter are forbidden from bringing meat and poultry products here (you can have milk, but you go eat that burger somewhere else).  Smoking is not allowed inside the room.  Alcohol is a no- no  (go to the bar if you want to booze all night) and if you are a party person,  better go to another transient house.

But if you need to some quiet time ande space for creative work , then head to Baguio and contact Jim at – [email protected] or click here —  and have a piece of bliss at Bliss Homestay.