One of the world’s newest ultra-luxury hotels is facing a public relations nightmare just days after opening, after allegedly canceling a prominent travel YouTuber’s $6,000-a-night reservation at the last minute, refusing to let him speak to management and calling the police when he showed up to check in.
Ryan Walker, who has over 135,000 YouTube subscribers and is known for reviewing some of the world’s most exclusive hotels, documented the ordeal in a viral video after arriving at the newly opened Amanvari resort in Mexico, where the nightly rate currently hovers around $6,000. Amanvari is part of the posh Aman Resorts hospitality group.
“I just had one of the most disappointing and embarrassing hotel experiences you could possibly have,” Walker said at the start of the video.
Walker said he had booked the stay weeks in advance and had exchanged emails with the resort confirming filming during his visit. After making the roughly two hour drive from Cabo to the remote property, security guards stopped his vehicle at the entrance.
Staff informed Walker that they didn’t have his reservation in the system, and instead of allowing him to speak to management, they called the police, according to the video. Walker then discovered that Amanvari had sent him an email late the night before saying they were unable to welcome him because they were scaling back guest arrivals as the team was “settling the resort into full operation.”
“Independent reviewers protect the customer. Independent reviewers like myself help make sure that this is a balanced narrative,” he said in the video. “If you silence independent reviews and cancel the reservations before you actually check in, what happens is now the narrative is fully controlled by the corporation.”
On the way out, Walker’s car was even stopped by a “Mexican military police van,” according to Alex Brown, who captured the standoff and identified himself as Walker’s videographer on YouTube.
In the 11 minute August 4 video titled “Amanvari Called the Police on Me,” Walker questioned why the hotel still continued to accept new bookings, despite canceling his stay.
“Right now, as we speak, you can go on to the Amanvari website and book a stay for tonight,” he said. “There’s no discount for it being in the first week. This is a hard launch. This is not a soft launch of the hotel. This isn’t friends and family. The hotel is open.”
Walker, who has previously reviewed Aman properties in Tokyo, had even brought the staff a congratulatory gift to celebrate the hotel’s opening. Instead, the experience left him questioning the luxury brand’s handling of the launch. Walker also claimed staff photographed his driver’s vehicle against his wishes.
“I cannot recommend staying at this property whatsoever,” Walker concluded. “If they’re so adamant to not have a review, there must be a reason.”
It appears comments have been disabled on Amanvari Instagram posts, and outraged fans have since driven Amanvari’s public rating on Google to an abysmal 1.8.
Aman did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for commented, or publicly addressed the situation.
Read the full article here
