Last week, luxury hotel group Aman’s newest property, Amanvari, made global headlines, and not in a good way. A YouTuber claimed that the hotel canceled his reservation at the last minute and then called the police on him. The backlash to this was massive, yet the hotel remained silent.
Well, the hotel has finally broken its silence, in the form of commenting on a story about the incident in The Wall Street Journal.
Aman shares its side of the Ryan Walker & Amanvari story
If you’re not familiar with this whole controversy, I’d recommend first reading the two posts linked above, as I won’t recap those details here. Instead, let’s focus on what Aman claims. The core claim from Aman is that “the deceptively edited video created by someone unauthorized to be on our property does not reflect the circumstances of the incident accurately.”
So, what are the details, according to Aman?
- On July 7, 2026, Ryan booked a one night stay checking on August 3, 2026, at a cost of $4,662.82
- Ryan had claimed that he received the email about the cancelation late the night before (which he claimed to have only discovered when at the hotel’s gate), but when pressed by the WSJ, Ryan admitted it actually arrived the previous morning
- Aman claimed it never called the police, and reportedly presented its incident report to the WSJ, which made no mention of law enforcement; of course it has to be emphasized that in the video, the employee said “I need to call the police now,” and she walked off, and got on the phone
- Ryan said he didn’t see police arrive on site, but when informed by the WSJ that Aman said it didn’t call the police, he said he hoped that was true, and that this information would make him reconsider how the resort had handled the situation (I forgot, did he claim he saw military police, or am I imagining that?)
- An Aman spokesperson also claimed that Ryan bypassed the main entrance and ended up at a staff access point, but Ryan insisted his driver just followed GPS directions to the first entrance shown in the video
- Ryan admitted that the hotel emailed him five days before his visit, telling him it was unable to allow stays involving content coverage until after a month-long media blackout, and suggested he postpone his travel
- Ryan responded that the hotel should consider him a standard guest, and the property said it was prepared to welcome him, noting he could post content after the media exclusivity window, but filming public spaces would be prohibited, and filming private spaces required approval, and Aman insisted he made no arrangements with staff to film
- Ryan said that after he received the email about terms of filming, he didn’t hear anything from Aman until seeing the cancelation email on camera, though Aman claimed it also sent Ryan a WhatsApp message about the cancelation, which Ryan said he didn’t see
- Aman claimed it refunded Ryan the booking in full, pledged to cover additional travel and cancelation costs, and offered to help him rebook a stay; Ryan said he received the refund, but didn’t take Aman up on the other reimbursements
Does Aman’s side of the story change how we feel?
Now that we have both sides of the story, does that change how we should feel about this situation? Let me start by saying that there are always two sides of a story, and I never assumed that Ryan’s version of events reflected all of the facts, as perceived by both sides (obviously).
My conclusions were based on what we saw in the video. As I said in previous posts, for all we know, Ryan knew that his reservation was canceled when he pulled up to the hotel. Let me also say that while I think Ryan is one of the more honest reviewers out there, I’m not putting him on some pedestal.
Frankly, I wish he had been more transparent throughout all of this. He levied some really serious accusations, and he should’ve released all of his correspondence with the hotel, in my opinion. I tuned into the Q&A he did after the fact, and was disappointed by the lack of actual clarity he provided about what happened. He kept emphasizing how he wants to move on, while also clearly liking the attention associated with this.
That being said, nothing about Aman’s version of what happened makes me feel better about how the hotel group handled this. Let me again emphasize that this is a very expensive hotel, and people deserve to be treated with respect. A few things stand out to me:
- On the most basic level, what exactly is Aman claiming was “deceptively edited” in the video? And referring to a paying guest who you canceled on last minute simply as “someone unauthorized to be on our property” is offensive
- I don’t think Ryan intentionally pulled up to the wrong gate, but instead, I believe the story that this is where the GPS took the driver; that doesn’t excuse the response he received, so if that was really an issue, they could’ve just directed him to the correct gate
- I’m happy to hear that Amanvari reportedly didn’t actually call the police on Ryan, but even so, how on earth is it acceptable to threaten to call the police on someone who was a full paying guest who was canceled on at the last minute, who isn’t doing anything to be threatening?
- The hotel clearly lied to him about the reason they weren’t ready to welcome him; it was obviously because they weren’t ready for a review, rather than due to capacity issues, and they refuse to acknowledge that
- There’s not even a hint of apology in Aman’s statement about how they handled this situation, but instead, they’re full-on defensive; for a luxury hospitality brand, I find that to be unconscionable
- I’m sorry, but what exactly is a month-long media blackout, when we’re talking about fully paying guests? Aman is literally telling someone they need permission in order to film in their own room? Huh?! For example, a travel advisor posted the below video (she paid full price for her stay), but it sounds like she was also breaking the rules, or how are we defining media? Instagram is okay, but not YouTube, as both have the ability to monetize the content?
Yeah, I just find Aman’s response here to still be seriously lacking. Sure, we can quibble over the little details, but the hotel canceled the reservation on someone last minute by lying, threatened to call the police on someone, and a manager has refused to speak to him.
And the hotel hasn’t even apologized in any way for his experience? That’s not sufficient. This just isn’t what you’d expect from a hospitality professional.
Bottom line
Aman has finally spoken out regarding the Amanvari controversy with Ryan Walker. The hotel brand claims the video was “deceptively edited,” though nothing about their defense actually changes how I feel about this.
On the most basic level, a luxury hotel shouldn’t threaten to call the police on a paying guest who had their reservation canceled on them at the last minute. And the complete unwillingness of a manager to speak to him is unacceptable.
What’s your take on Aman’s response to this situation?
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