A guest at the Conrad Maldives went to the spa – for a treatment so bad he says he left with trauma to his neck that led to a 4.6 cm mass made up of scar tissue and clotted vessels, and that he needed surgery to remove it. He calls it a life-altering injury, says he provided Hilton with all his medical records and bills, but that they’ve ghosted him for months.
The good news, though, is that this was a trip to propose to his girlfriend – and she said yes (they’re now married).
1/5 I went to @ConradHotels Maldives to propose to my now wife. I left with a permanent neck injury and surgery after a spa massage went wrong.
What should’ve been the best trip of my life turned into a medical nightmare. A thread on how @HiltonHotels has ghosted me since. pic.twitter.com/BSeC7prtXM
— Andrew (@AHOLMESxyz) January 5, 2026
3/5 My medical team directly linked this 4.6cm mass to the trauma from the Conrad spa.
I’ve shared every medical record and bill with the @HiltonHotels Office of Trust & Risk (OTRI). I’ve done everything right. Their response? Total silence for months. #HiltonHonors #hiltonhotel pic.twitter.com/9dTJetnQbx
— Andrew (@AHOLMESxyz) January 5, 2026
Now, he says this was life-altering, but he doesn’t share enough detail to understand that part – post-surgery, he’d be expected to end up with a scar and possibly mild chronic tightness but not really any ongoing medical limitation. Life-altering would suggest a permanent nerve injury (which could also result from the surgery); a stroke or pulmonary embolism; chronic pain that persists despite healing. The surgery might look different than these photos. So I’m hopeful that it was a nasty, painful episode that required surgey but that he’s largely fine.
But what could have gone wrong here?
I’m not a doctor, but the therapist either applied too much force, put it in the wrong place, did it for too long, or did something closer to manipulation than massage: deep pressure directly over the the neck, sustained compression with an elbow, knuckle, or thumb in one spot long enough to bruise tissue or injure a superficial vein, working through sharp pain instead of backing off.
The scar tissue and thrombosed (clotted) vessels seems a tear or irritation of a superficial neck vein, leading to a clot, the body walls it off and it feels like a lump. Or hard pressure causes a deep bruise that over weeks becomes a mass.
This isn’t a “1 in 100,000 massages” kind of thing. It appears to be so rare that when it happens, it tends to show up in the medical literature. About 10% of massage clients report minor discomfort after a session.
However for a neck vascular injury leading to formation of a mass requiring surgery? That seems to be in the single digits kind of event. There are reportedly tens of millions of massages per year and only tiny numbers of serious massage injuries are reported over long periods of time. But I still think I may avoid high-force work in the neck, and prefer light Swedish massages in that region.
If you’re concerned with risks,
- Ask for Swedish / light to moderate pressure, no deep tissue on the neck, any deep work should be on big muscle groups like glutes, hips and back.
- No neck adjustment or high-velocity thrusts
- Avoid if on blood thinners or have a history of clots
- Any sharp, burning pain stop work in that area immediately.
I imagine that investigating a claim in the Maldives can be time-consuming, and the property may be recalcitrant. However that’s not an excuse for ghosting a guest over $50,000 who’s gone through this.
Gary – you have a significant following, public voice, and bully pulpit, yet the only thing you’re offering here is pointers on how to get a healthy massage. Is there any reason why YOU haven’t contacted Hilton in order to find out why they’re ghosting this person, or perhaps to provide a satisfactory resolution to this person, as well as proving all of your readers with a more compelling full-circle story? Headline: Grocery Prices Are Soaring. Gary’s Content: How to make sure you get a good shopping cart at the grocery store.
@ Gary — This guy should be turning to an attorney, not the internet, for assistance with this matter.
@Lucky Larry – consider this is another story Gary picked up online (Reddit, X and Tik Tok seem to be primary sources now). You hear one side of this. For all you know Hilton has had medical experts evaluate it and determined no liability or that it can’t be proven as the cause. Also, unlike in the US, there may be litigation limits or other barriers to civil suits in the Maldives. Hilton doesn’t owe anything if they weren’t the owner/service provider or there are damage caps. Also would be interesting to see how much he actually paid. Should have travel medical insurance and if dealt with back in US his regular insurance policy should cover the majority of the cost.
When I first saw this over at OMAAT, my initial reaction was that I’ve been to Rangali Island multiple times, have had massages at that spa, even ‘deep tissue’ style, and no, this type of outcome never happened. That said, anything is possible, and I wish the individual a speedy recovery, if possible.
Relatedly, anyone been through MLE lately? Saw they opened the new terminal, but there are reports that not all airlines are using it yet. Any word on Qatar specifically?
@Retired Gambler acting more like @Retired Lawyer. Good instincts. Agreed on travel insurance. Gotta protect yourselves. Even a baseline policy often costs a hundred bucks and would cover much of this.
A few comments:
– Always make sure you are medically covered wherever you go. When I was travelling a lot abroad, I had a worldwide health insurance; nowadays, I just get basic travel insurance for each trip.
– He needs to investigate who is liable for what, and the local laws concerning injuries. Also, usually there are liability release forms that are signed before treatments.
– Typically, big corporations will not lift a finger before they are either sued or media unleash a campaign.
– Also, the Spa may be an independent company not linked to the hotel, and also most hotels are now franchisee and not owned by Hilton.
Looking at all that, the probability he’ll get anything from Hilton is very low ….
Yeah, so sue in the Maldives because of your obvious preexisting condition aggravated by a massage. Good luck with that. How Hilton corporate is liable is ridiculous. Litigious Americans with a lifetime of playing victim find out that outside the US nobody gives a f about your victimhood claims.
Good thing he didn’t go for the prostrate massage.
@David — Did you mean the Thai-style where you lie on the floor and they stand on you, or did you misspell ‘prostate’?
Whenever it crosses into the legal arena Hilton goes silent and leaves it between hotel ownership and guest
It wants no involvement.Its up to the guest to sue on their own or get legal representation
Way to much gray area for any blogger to get involved.Same thing getting scarred from bed bugs it will be up to an attorney to see if their is a valid case especially at 500 dollars an hour fees
@Dwondermeant gets it. But, it’s great clickbait for the site, so…
I’m not sure that this is from a massage. The condition could have been preexisting or could have flared up on the airplane trip back home.