A luxury travel YouTuber claims he was denied check-in at a newly opened $6,000-a-night resort in Mexico and that resort staff subsequently called the police. Ryan Walker, who has over 135,000 subscribers and is known for reviewing exclusive hotels, documented the incident at the Amanvari resort in a viral video.
Walker stated in the video that he had booked his stay weeks in advance and had exchanged emails with the resort confirming his intention to film during his visit. Upon arriving at the remote property, security guards informed him that his reservation was not in the system. Instead of allowing him to speak with management, Walker alleges that staff called the police.
According to Walker, Amanvari had sent him an email the night before his arrival stating they were unable to accommodate him as they were scaling back guest arrivals while the team "settled the resort into full operation." Walker questioned why the resort continued to accept new bookings if it was not ready to host guests.
"Right now, as we speak, you can go on to the Amanvari website and book a stay for tonight," Walker said in his video. "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 other Aman properties, also claimed that staff photographed his driver's vehicle against his wishes. He concluded that he "cannot recommend staying at this property whatsoever" and suggested that the hotel's reluctance to have an independent review indicated a reason to be concerned.
Following the incident, comments appear to have been disabled on the resort's Instagram posts, and its Google rating has reportedly fallen to 1.8. The resort has not publicly addressed the situation, and Aman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.