I’ve written nearly every word that’s gone out under my name for Hotel Espresso. Today, I’m handing over the talking stick for a joint post with the two media brands I helm: Hotels Above Par and Mexzine.
Quick context for anyone new: I’m Brandon, founder of Hotels Above Par (+Hotel Espresso) and publisher of Mexzine, our twice-weekly dispatch on Mexican hotels, design, and the people running them. Mexzine is co-led by Cristina Alonso, our Managing Editor, who lives and reports in Mexico City.
This week, a story landed that was evocative to the max. Aman opened its first property in Mexico on August 1. Seventy-two hours later, an independent hotel reviewer with 136,000 subscribers posted a video called “Amanvari Called the Police on Me.”
I’ve been a bellboy. I know exactly how a front-of-house failure is supposed to be handled, and it isn’t that. But this one happened in Cabo, to a brand Cristina and I both admire, in a country she covers every week.
Cristina, take it away.
Amanvari Called the Police on Him
We’ve been dreaming of the Amanvari opening for months now. To anyone who loves the hospitality industry – or just loves a damn good hotel– this is a huge deal. It represents Aman’s grand debut in Mexico, and the brand’s expansion in North America, joining properties in New York, Utah, and the upcoming Beverly Hills and Texas. The day finally came on August 1, the grand opening all over our social media feeds.
The shock came just three days later, when Ryan Walker of The Walker Index, whose YouTube channel has 136k subscribers, posted a video titled Amanvari Called the Police on Me. A quick summary: Ryan, who does independent luxury hotel reviews, filmed himself excitedly arriving at the property, only to be told they didn’t have his reservation and asked to make a U-turn back to San José. The way it happened, though, was especially unsettling. The people who he talked to (unclear whether they are all Amanvari employees or work for the complex where it is located) were quite harsh and unwelcoming. They didn’t seem apologetic or embarrassed; all the opposite –t hey treated Ryan like an intruder, taking photos of his car and threatening to call the police.
Most of us have had stuff like this happen to us at some point, usually at a much smaller scale. You may get to a restaurant or a hotel, just to learn your reservation isn’t there or maybe it’s for a different date. And good hospitality is showcased in a simple response: “Hey, we know this is frustrating –what can we do to make it better?”
This is what makes this scene absolutely insane. No hotel should treat a guest like that, period. But the fact that it is Aman, the epitome of luxury, makes it even more shocking. And people are responding. The resort’s Google reviews are currently at 1.8, courtesy of 130 users, most of whom –if not all– haven’t stayed in its 18 casitas during its first week of life, but are nonetheless making themselves heard. As of this moment, there hasn’t been an official response from Amanvari or Aman, but we’re eagerly waiting to see how this plays out. For our love of Cabo and Mexico, and our deep admiration for Aman, we sure hope they turn this around. -CA
Thanks for reading today’s special edition newsletter, a cross-post between Hotel Espresso and Mexzine—the latter is our new curated newsletter about Mexico travel.
We want to hear from you. Let us know what your reaction to this story is?
It’s like a master class in how not to handle a situation on Aman’s part.
I get not wanting someone to review and film a hotel opening weekend - that’s actually pretty normal. I give hotels 6 months - a year after they open before I go, typically. It takes time to shake the cobwebs off.
On Aman’s side, they handled this poorly. Threatening to call the cops on Ryan - wrong move. This is terrible PR for the hotel and Aman in general. I think this is a good opportunity to talk about service recovery.
What they should have done:
1) Don’t wait until 24 hours beforehand to send a notice to the guest that their reservation has been cancelled. That’s just ridiculous.
2) Let the guest in when he arrives, and have him meet with the GM, explain the situation. Give him the opportunity to stay if he doesn’t film.
3) “Walk” him to a nearby comparable property, even if it’s a Four Seasons. A refund is bare minimum here - a cancellation with 24 hours notice requires walking the guest and helping them make other arrangements.
4) Aman seems to have no desire to respond to the firestorm. I have clients who are now reconsidering their trip there. I’m not entirely sure this is the right move, but can see where it becomes a “he said, she said” scenario where no one wins.
No matter what I think of Ryan’s motives - he has a loyal following and people who love his reviews, but I just want to remind people that viral videos are profitable for YouTubers, and virality comes from conflict just as easily as it comes from positive reviews - Aman surely fumbled the ball here.
The late-night cancellation email complicates the story, but the refusal to have a manager come to the gate is where this stopped being an opening-week mistake and became a brand failure. At this level, luxury is not the absence of mistakes; it is ownership when one happens. Instead, security was left to defend a decision management would not explain, and the police became the escalation. The Google review pile-on is a separate distortion, but Aman created the vacuum by staying silent.