PINES HOTEL was one of the earliest structures in Baguio City built between 1905-1910 along Gov. Pack Rd. First made as a health sanitarium, it was later leased in 1910 to a private individual, Charles M. Jenkins, who converted it into a hotel and called it Hotel Pines, later renamed PINES HOTEL. It was fondly dubbed as “The Grand Old Dame of Baguio.” American managers ran the hotel. In 1927, it had its first Filipino manager Ciriaco Z. Cuenco who replaced its previous manager, a certain Dr. Best.

Distinctive PINES HOTEL provided the most contemporary and lavish accommodations for Baguio's wealthiest visitors. The ‘premier resort hotel in the Orient,’ surrounded with pine trees and terraced gardens, was the exclusive place to be for well-heeled guests and ‘weary’ tourists all through the 1920’s to the early 1940’s, pre-WWII.

The first President of the Commonwealth of Philippines, Manuel L. Quezon, hosted a joyful and sentimental gathering of friends at the PINES HOTEL which included future President Elpidio Quirino and Sec. Jose Yulo (eventually Speaker of the House and 6th Chief Justice) and other distinguished guests. All other Presidents had their memories and stays in PINES HOTEL. Many dignitaries and celebrities, both foreign and local, had wonderful hospitable experiences, Worldwide and local conventions, meetings, conferences, events and banquets were held in PINES HOTEL.

The stone and pine wood laden building was badly destroyed during WWII. It was rebuilt post-War on a more notable location, the Luneta Hill, overlooking Burnham Park, giving way to a more modern, concrete building, and still remaining “The Grand Old Dame of Baguio.”

In the 1950’s, PINES HOTEL boasted 144 rooms with private baths. Its main facilities and function rooms were named locally indigenous: They included the Ifugao Hall (Main Lobby). Bontoc Bar, Kankanai Tea Room, Kalinga Dining Hall and Canao Ballroom. In its later years, it had a sizable heated swimming pool and operated a Casino.

Sadly on the fateful day of Oct 23, 1984, a fire broke and razed down Baguio City’s most beautiful resort hotel and iconic landmark. It then had 4 storeys and 423 rooms.

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ADOLFO MARCIAL L. DE LA CUESTA, President & CEO, was born in Baguio City on June 17, 1949. He finished his Elementary at Saint Theresa’s College (STC) Baguio City and his High School at the Saint Louis University (SLU), Classical Honors Section, Baguio City. He pursued his college course at the Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics in 1970. He moved to the US in the late ‘70s. He continued his academic pursuit at the City University of New York (CUNY) for a Masters in Public Administration (non-graduate). His other US academic pursuits were undertaking various courses in insurance and financial planning for State Licensure, becoming a Licensed Insurance Broker and a Registered Securities Dealer through the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) He also attained a Certificate in Environmental Safety, Harvard University, Boston, MA. in 1992.

WORK EXPERIENCE:
President & CEO: Victoria Santo Tomas Development Corporation (VSTDC), Baguio City: Real Estate Developer, Commercial and Residential Properties. 2016-2021, present OIC and Board Member2023.

President & CEO: Aqua Vitae Corporation, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA: Commercial and residential potable water treatment products and services. 2011-2016.

President & CEO: Professionals International Co., Inc., Clifton, New Jersey USA: Employment Agency; international recruitment and placement of professionals for the US work force. 1999-2010.

President & CEO: Healthaire Co., Inc. Nutley, New Jersey USA: Workplace air quality testing, HVAC sanitary management for institutional buildings: Hospitals, schools, food manufacturing plants, office and commercial buildings. 1991-1998.

Insurance Broker and Financial Planner: John Hancock Group of Companies, Queens, NY, USA; Life, Health, Property and Casualty Insurance Broker, Mutual Funds Investment Portfolio Adviser and Pension Planner. 1981-1990.

Presently, Mr. De La Cuesta is spearheading the rebuilding of 500-room Pines Hotel, Baguio City’s most notable, distinguished, and unforgettable landmark. He himself has his fondest memories of it growing up; told by his parents of their wedding reception there in 1939 and had their silver wedding anniversary in 1964. His oldest brother’s wedding reception was there too. Teenage dancing at the basement discotheque, swimming get togethers at the heated swimming pool, a drink or two then older. Important events, key business meetings and memorable gatherings, public and private. Too sentimentally significant for many Baguio folks and countless cherished remembrances for so many 

Contact us: 

Email:
adolfodelacuesta@gmail.com
pineshotelbaguio@gmail.com

149 Andres Bonifacio Street
Cuesta 2 Building
Baguio City, Philippines 2600


PINES HOTEL IS DULY REGISTERED WITH THE PHILIPPINES’ DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY (DTI) AND THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (SEC)
BAGUIO CITY
Baguio, a municipal of Benguet Province in Northern Luzon was established as a Hill Station (a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plains or valleys) by the United States in 1900, The Philippines then being under U.S. Colonial Rule. It served as its Provincial Capital from 1901-1906. It was the United States’ only Hill Station in Asia.
On September 1, 1909, Baguio was declared a Chartered City by virtue of Act No. 1963. Then Philippines’ U.S. Governor General William Cameron Forbes directed Justice George Malcolm, a young lawyer in the American-led Philippine government, to write the City’s Charter. It was since then nicknamed as the “Summer Capital of the Philippines.”
Baguio City, 5000 feet above sea level with its cool and refreshing climate all year round, remains to the present day, the most popular tourist destination in the Philippines.