Hotel Guests 'Booted' After Jeff Bezos And Lauren Sanchez Reserved Entire Property Ahead Of Wedding

Yahoo

9 hours ago

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are ensuring they and their wedding guests have an uninterrupted stay in Venice, even if it means others have to adjust their plans.
According to reports, the couple rented out a luxury hotel in the city as they prepare for their nuptials later this week.
Unfortunately, this forced the hotel to cancel bookings for guests who had made their reservations months before Jeff Bezos secured the entire hotel.
Later this week, Bezos and his fiancée Sanchez will tie the knot in Venice in what is expected to be a very lavish ceremony.
Ahead of the ceremony, the soon-to-be married couple is said to have already arrived in the city and is staying at the Aman Venice — one of the most luxurious hotels available.
However, their arrival has reportedly thrown off the plans of guests who had booked rooms at the hotel long before Bezos and his fiancée chose it as their place to stay in the city.
"Guests who had previously booked [at] the hotel for Wednesday night a long time in advance were booted once Bezos rented the entire space a few months ago," an insider told Page Six.
As compensation for the disruption, the hotel has offered guests perks while relocating them to other hotels in the city.
"Those guests are being moved to other hotels, including the St. Regis," and that, "Aman is paying for their rooms in addition to comping a night of their stay and offering upgrades," added the source.
Meanwhile, it seems Bezos is taking the threat of protests disrupting his wedding very seriously.
Prior to his arrival at Aman, Bezos sent several security attachés ahead of time to make sure the location was safe for him and his fiancée, the former reporter.
According to a source, "10 or 12 security guys were doing a sweep" of the hotel on Tuesday.
As part of their checks, they looked inside cabinets and inspected the courtyard for anything unusual.
These individuals also confronted people in the lobby, in what one source described as a "chaotic" scene.
The increased security has also affected other hotels where VIP wedding guests will be staying.
An insider shared that the St. Regis Venice had seven Italian police officers stationed in the lobby on Tuesday afternoon, apparently to deter trespassers.
Hotel staff also took extra precautions when letting other guests into the building.
"They were holding people at the door, and one more cop was stationed outside," said an individual who was at the hotel. "The manager was making sure that even those who had luggage had reservations. One member of the family was let inside to check in while the others waited."
Not only have the protests seemingly led to increased security, but they also appear to have caused Bezos and Sánchez to change the location of one of their parties.
According to Reuters, the couple had originally planned to host an after-party at a venue in Cannaregio, with the rumored location being the Scuola Grande della Misericordia.
However, they have now moved the event to a hall within the Arsenale, located in the eastern Castello district.
This new location is reportedly far less accessible to trespassers and protesters than the previously planned nightlife spot.
In fact, the area is surrounded by water and becomes unreachable by land when the connecting bridges are raised.
Wedding planners for Bezos and Sanchez defended the duo in the wake of the protests against the nuptials.
In a statement, Lanza & Baucina Limited expressed surprise at the backlash the couple has received, while emphasizing that Bezos and Sanchez were keen on not causing any disruptions to the city.
"From the outset, instructions from our client and our own guiding principles were abundantly clear: the minimising of any disruption to the city, the respect for its residents and institutions and the overwhelming employment of locals in the crafting of the events," the wedding planners said in a statement, per Page Six.
They went on to stress that they had stuck to this ethos even before the protests and that "rumours of 'taking over' the city are entirely false and diametrically opposed" to their goals and reality.