“I grew up in Lübeck, in northern Germany, in an attic flat with tartan wallpaper. My dad loved Scotland and tartan – he even gave me a tartan umbrella and a coat with a Royal Stewart lining. My very first single on vinyl was also Amazing Grace played on the bagpipes, so despite no physical connection, that romanticised idea of Scotland was always in the background.”
“After my hotel apprenticeship in Hamburg (where I helped with a state visit from Nelson Mandela amongst all sorts of other amazing events), I applied to 11 UK hotels – driving from the south coast up to Scotland for the interviews, changing in petrol stations and car parks. When Gleneagles said yes in 1991, it felt like fate. I first joined in 1992 as a receptionist and later duty manager, went away for hotel school in Heidelberg, worked in Paris for a year, and then came back for good in 2001, becoming Guest Relations Manager in 2003.”
“In 2012, the hotel supported me to do my Blue Badge guiding course (a rigorous, two-year programme at Edinburgh University covering everything from Scottish geology and archaeology to folklore). It really deepened my love of Scotland, and it’s why I now lead hotel history tours with my colleagues Richard and Grant. People have gradually gotten to know what we like, so I’ve started a small archive of old photographs, menus and documents gifted from former guests and colleagues, most with priceless stories attached. Guests love the Gleneagles history iPad walks we’ve created, where we match old photographs with the rooms today. They’re always fascinated when I point out hidden doors now bricked up, or the spot where Dior staged a fashion show in the ballroom in 1955.”
“One of my proudest moments was working on the G8 Summit, where the whole world was watching Gleneagles and we welcomed everyone from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth to Prime Minister Tony Blair. There were snipers on the roof, so you suddenly felt like you were in a Matt Damon movie. Nobody was allowed to be in the front hall when The Queen landed. She flew in from Balmoral by helicopter. We were all huddled in the old porter’s lodge, peeking through the curtains. I thought ‘I haven’t worked here this long to miss this now!’”
“There are so many moments with celebrities and guests I’ll never forget. When Sean Connery arrived he nearly floored me when he spoke because he sounded just like James Bond.”
“About 15 years ago, I guided a 90-year-old lady who had been engaged to a soldier recovering here during the war when the hotel was a hospital. She was never allowed inside at the time, so she used to meet him secretly for one hour a day behind a tree on the golf course. When I finally showed her The Ballroom and The Century Bar, she was in tears; she said she could finally imagine that part of his life she’d never known. It was incredibly moving.”
“On the other end of the spectrum, I once spent a whole day in Edinburgh with a young princess from the Middle East. She wanted to skip the castle and instead we went to Camera Obscura, the dungeons, and even to see the Minions movie on a whim. At the end she insisted on taking the train back to Dunblane because she’d never been on one before. She was having a ball, but her security team on the other hand…”
“What makes Gleneagles so special is that it means something different to everyone. For some, it’s golf and tournaments like the Ryder Cup. For others, it’s family tradition – parents bringing their children for afternoon tea just as their own parents once did. Guests often say ‘this is our Gleneagles’, and that sense of ownership is unique. Even when the décor changes, the feeling remains the same: that combination of Scottish romance, impeccable service, and the sense of being part of something with history and heart.”
To book a history tour with Iris, Richard or Grant, please speak to our colleagues at the front desk
