A Popular Hotel Reviewer Claims Aman’s New Resort Canceled His Stay and Called the Cops on Him
Ryan Walker’s stay at the latest Aman hotel didn’t go as smoothly as planned.
The hotel reviewer, who documents his luxury hotel visits on a YouTube channel with over 135,000 subscribers, claims the newly opened Amanvari in Mexico canceled his reservation at the last minute and then called the police on him when he tried to check in.
Walker, 33, detailed the ordeal in a video titled “Amanvari Called the Police on Me,” which has clocked up over 550,000 views since he posted it on YouTube on August 4. “I just had one of the most disappointing and embarrassing hotel experiences you could possibly have,” he says at the start of the 11-minute video.
Walker claims he booked a stay at the 18-key resort on Mexico’s East Cape weeks in advance and received multiple emails from the Amanvari team regarding the reservation, but was turned away at the hotel entrance. In the video, Walker is stopped at the gates by hotel security. He shows the guards what he says is an email he received from the Amanvari reservations team that morning regarding his arrival. One guard informs him, “We don’t have your reservation.” Walker then asks to speak to the resort manager, at which point another guard says, “We can’t permit access.”
Walker alleges that the guard then called the police. His videographer, Alex Brown, commented on the YouTube video that “the security guard escalated the situation almost immediately and called the police,” adding that a Mexican military police van stopped them on the way out.
As Walker and his team are driving away, he discovers an email he says the Amanvari team sent late the night before. “Having opened only days ago, we are still in the earliest phase of settling the resort into full operation, and we have taken the difficult decision to reduce arrivals over the coming days while we complete this work,” it reads. “Regrettably, this affects your stay, and we are unable to welcome you as planned.”
One of 18 luxe casitas at Amanvari.
Walker points out in the video that bookings are officially open, with each standalone beachfront casita starting at roughly $6,000 per night. He argues that by silencing independent reviewers like himself, who typically pay for stays to ensure transparency, the corporation can fully control the narrative.
“I think it is imperative that properties, hotels, resorts, yachts allow for independent reviews to preserve the integrity of the hospitality industry as a whole,” he says.
Aman did not immediately respond to Robb Report’s request for comment and has not publicly addressed the situation. It appears comments on the Amanvari Instagram have been disabled and the hotel’s general manager, Diego Lozano Vara, no longer has an active LinkedIn profile.
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