Amanvari, the new $6,000-per-night Aman resort in Baja California Sur, canceled a hotel reviewer’s reservation at the last minute, denied him entry after he arrived, refused to let him speak with management, and then called the police. The property has yet to offer any public explanation, and its general manager should take responsibility.
Amanvari Called The Police On A Hotel Reviewer After Canceling His $6,000 Stay
I had never heard of hotel reviewer Ryan Walker until One Mile At A Time covered this story, but we reviewers have to stick together…at least the respectful ones who pay for their own stays, report honestly, and enter a hotel without an agenda.
Walker booked a stay at Amanvari, the newly opened Aman resort on Mexico’s Baja California Sur peninsula, during its first week of operation. With rates approaching $6,000 per night, Amanvari is positioning itself among the most exclusive resorts in the world.
Walker had apparently communicated with the resort in advance about filming his stay. Amanvari knew he was coming and knew he was a reviewer…as any hotel would have known with just a smallest amount of due diligence even if he had not reached out.
Then, late on the evening before his arrival, the resort emailed him to cancel the reservation.
The explanation was that Amanvari had opened only days earlier and needed to reduce arrivals while it finished settling into full operation.
Walker says he did not see the late-night message before departing the following morning for the roughly two-hour drive to the resort. That was unfortunate, but what happened upon arrival was inexcusable.
Amanvari Knew Exactly Who He Was
When Walker’s vehicle reached the entrance, security personnel immediately identified him by name, am important detail.
The resort could not credibly claim that it had no idea who he was or that there was simply no reservation in its system. Its staff was clearly expecting him. Nevertheless, Walker was told that the resort did not have his reservation. One employee even suggested that perhaps Walker had canceled it himself.
He then produced an email from Amanvari’s reservations team that referenced his expected arrival that morning.
Rather than acknowledge the obvious confusion, apologize, and ask a manager to come to the entrance, security continued to deny him entry.
Walker calmly asked to speak with someone from management. He did not demand access to the resort or attempt to force his way onto private property. He simply wanted a manager to come outside and explain why a confirmed $6,000 reservation had been canceled at the last minute.
Management refused to speak with him.
Then security called the police.
According to Walker’s videographer, a Mexican military police vehicle later stopped them as they left the area.
Here’s his take:
Amanvari Was Still Selling Rooms
The resort’s explanation for the cancellation also deserves scrutiny.
Amanvari claimed that it needed to reduce arrivals because the property was not yet ready to operate at full capacity. But Walker found that the hotel was still accepting new reservations at full price for the same night and the days immediately afterward.
I suppose there is a remote possibility that there is an innocent explanation. Perhaps the available inventory represented a different room category, or perhaps the booking system had not been updated. Aman Resorts has not publicly explained it.
But the obvious suspicion is that Amanvari realized an independent reviewer was arriving during a chaotic opening period and decided it would rather cancel him than risk an unfavorable review.
Of course, that would be bad enough.
Calling the police after he arrived and politely requested to speak with management transformed a questionable cancellation into an international public-relations disaster.
Walker’s video gathered more than 136,000 views in less than 24 hours. Aman Resorts and Amanvari offered no public response during that period…they still have not addressed this matter.
Their silence speaks volumes.
Reviewers Must Behave Respectfully, But Hotels Cannot Demand Only Praise
I recognize that the word “influencer” often causes hotel employees to roll their eyes, sometimes with very good reason.
Some self-proclaimed influencers demand free rooms, upgrades, meals, and special treatment in exchange for exposure. Others manufacture conflict because outrage generates more views than an uneventful stay.
That conduct deserves no defense. Oh how I loathe those people!
But an independent reviewer who pays the publicly available rate, treats employees respectfully, and reports what actually happens is simply a customer documenting the experience….I’d certainly prefer if he did not try to coordinate filming beforehand, but I would also think every guest dropping $6K/night during the hotel’s opening week is going to want to document the experience with a lot of photos and video.
Hotels should not get to welcome reviewers only when the property is polished and banish them when the truth may be inconvenient.
At the price Amanvari charges, guests are not merely paying for a nice room and a private pool. They are paying for judgment, discretion, service recovery, and management capable of resolving problems without summoning armed authorities.
Even a limited-service hotel should know how to handle this situation:
- Call the guest directly when canceling at the last minute
- Confirm that the guest received the message
- Apologize personally
- Arrange and pay for comparable alternative accommodations
- Cover transportation and other expenses
- Invite the guest to return when the property is ready
Instead, Amanvari sent a late email, allowed Walker to make the long journey, pretended not to recognize a reservation it clearly knew about, refused access to management, and called the police.
That is astounding incompetence.
Look, once again I can understand why the hotel would not want a prominent reviewer there when room, common areas, and restaurants may not have been ready…sure, I understand. But the way this was handled? Pathetic.
Amanvari General Manager Diego Lozano Vara Must Take Responsibility
The general manager of Amanvari is Diego Lozano Vara.
The buck stops with him.
I do not know whether he personally ordered the reservation canceled nor do I know whether he instructed security to call the police or whether he was even physically present during the incident.
But that ultimately does not matter.
A general manager is responsible for the culture, procedures, and judgment exercised by the team. This was not a total institutional failure involving reservations, security, management access, guest recovery, and ultimately law enforcement.
As I see it at this point, Lozano Vara should step down immediately.
Perhaps Aman will eventually produce evidence that substantially changes the story. It has had ample opportunity to respond, and silence is not an adequate crisis-management strategy when a video documenting the incident is spreading so rapidly. If Walker was aggressive or demanding, I can see my assessment changing…and then it will be him too that loses all credibility.
At a minimum, Aman should publicly explain:
- Why Walker’s reservation was selected for cancellation
- Why new reservations apparently remained available
- Why no one telephoned him before his journey
- Why management refused to speak with him
- Why police involvement was considered necessary
- What corrective action has been taken
Until those questions are answered, I would not consider booking Amanvari, and travel advisors should think carefully before sending clients there!
CONCLUSION
Amanvari canceled Ryan Walker’s $6,000-per-night reservation hours before arrival, denied him entry after he completed the long drive to the resort, refused his calm request to speak with a manager, and called the police.
The resort then remained publicly silent as his video attracted more than 136,000 views in less than a day and probably now grown another 1-2K while I’ve written this story.
Reviewers are not entitled to special treatment. But neither should a hotel be permitted to intimidate a paying guest because it fears what an honest review might reveal. It is reasonable to prohibit guests from filming other guests, but not from filming the facilities themselves.
Amanvari failed at the most basic element of luxury hospitality: treating a guest with dignity. At $6,000 per night, that failure strikes me as disqualifying.
Anyone spending $6k a night for a hotel has too much money as the liberals like to say. Short of being giving the company of a hot companion, there is nothing worth that rate. But the good thing is the Trump economy continues to make average people very rich daily.
As for this clown, he’s lucky he wasn’t disappeared by the Mexican police. You just don’t mess around with them in 3rd world countries, you quickly do anything to de-escalate the situation.
If you watch the video, I think he handled it very well when denied access to the property.
Matthew, I have spent some time in Mexico and I also have close friends who are Mexican, forgetting everything else, ime, Mexican private security may have been instructed to not let folks in without reservations, no ifs ands or buts.
I have found that many front line rolls (in countries like Mexico) like security do not think, they do not reason, they are specifically told not to, so you can argue till you are blue in the face, if securiy is told no reservation, no entrance, it is no entrance.
Now, none of that speaks to cancelling the guys reservation nor the who whole host of other mistakes the hotel made, but the security incident was never going to end in the reviewers favor.
Years ago now, my wife and I were visitng my friends in Mexico City, their building has 24/7 armed security as most nicer building in CDMX have.
Our friends had told security to expect us at “X” time (I forget the exact time it has been many years) and we were able to catch an earlier flight, so we arrived at their building earlier.
Security would not my wife and I in because my name did not appear at that time we had arrived, it appeared later, but they did not care.
I could not reason with them, it was useless, they said leave or they would call the Police.
Eventually, I was able to get a hold of my friend, he called the building’s front desk and my wife and I were allowed in, but I have learned that in many countries, groups like security are not paid to think or reason, they are paid to just do.
Very interesting anecdote. But I find people like that, who seem to lack common sense, a threat to others, not an asset.
Manufactured drama and fake everything.
Stop giving these assholes the attention they depend on. Shame on you both.
Bruce: AITA?
Everyone: Yes.
@Bruce: Your take is really bad. This isn’t Nonstop Dan or Aljoscha Wendholt…
Anna Sorokin (“Delvey”) tried defrauding La Mamounia in Marrakech for $62K and they treated her better than these people treated Walker. Unreal.