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‘We love people of Deeside’: Meet the Fife Arms owners as they are awarded RGU honorary degree

Iwan and Manuela Wirth bought the Braemar hotel in 2016 and transformed it into a five-star experience.

Iwan and Manuela Wirth.
Fife Arms Hotel owners Iwan and Manuela Wirth received honorary degrees from RGU today.

The owners of the Fife Arms hotel in Braemar have been awarded with an honorary degree from Robert Gordon University today.

Entrepreneurial art gallery founders Iwan and Manuela Wirth transformed the iconic Fife Arms into five-star boutique hotel, which reopened at the end of 2018 after the couple purchased it in 2016.

They are presidents and co-founders of Hauser and Wirth, a leading international art gallery that was founded by the couple alongside Ursula Hauser in 1992 and remain a family business.

Outside of The Fife Arms Hotel.
The Fife Arms hotel. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.

Iwan and Manuela Wirth collect degrees

Mr and Mrs Wirth also run Artfarm, an independent hospitality and development firm which owns several venues across the world, including the celebrity hotspot Fife Arms, whose unique interior draws inspiration from local people and places.

They also support several museums, international art projects and regularly contribute to charities, including ones in the north-east.

The Wirths have partially funded the ongoing restoration of St Margaret’s Church in Braemar and also contribute towards the River Dee Trust.

Mr Wirth was awarded with a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) and his wife was granted with a Doctor of Letters (DLitt) at a graduation ceremony at P&J Live in Aberdeen.

Wirths find Deeside people fascinating

Speaking to The P&J after they received became graduates of the university, the couple said they were “over the moon” to receive the “huge honour and privilege” in their “second home”.

Discussing what they love so much about the area, Mr Wirth said it was “the people”, who he described as being “exceptionally fascinating”, while his wife described them as “opening, welcoming and friendly”.

The couple, who are from Switzerland, also mentioned the “sheer beauty” of Royal Deeside’s landscape and discussing the success of the Fife Arms since its renovation, Mrs Wirth said they were “proud and happy to share” the hotel with locals and tourists.

Iwan and Manuela Wirth.
Both Mr and Mrs Wirth are now graduates of RGU.

Her husband said it was “absolutely astonishing” the hotel’s success, adding: “We hoped it would be successful, but wherever we go we are known for the gallery, but increasingly, people say, ‘aren’t you the people from Fife Arms?'”

“It’s incredible stories that we encounter.

A person in Hong Kong said they go to Scotland and I said, “where do you go?” and they said, “it’s a fantastic hotel”.

“I said, ‘it might be, it might not be the Fife Arms’ and they said, ‘it’s exactly the Fife Arms’.”

In response to this, Mr Wirth told them: “Welcome to our home.”

Invercauld Arms Hotel.
Invercauld Arms Hotel is located in Braemar.

Iwan and Manuela Wirth’s Invercauld Arms plans

Calling it an “incredible project”, that “keeps giving”, he told The P&J that their absolute priority is to “always to improve the offerings of the vibe” and “increasingly invest in the place, the staff and the service of people”.

Also owners of Braemar’s Invercauld Arms Hotel, which is currently being renovated, the art entrepreneur said it will be a “slightly different concept”, adding: “It will look more at families and rather than the five-star Fife Arms experience, it’s a Highland experience where people will stay in serviced apartments.

“We are also planning to offer the biggest bar, a pool and a wellness area, as we would like people to stay even longer in Braemar.”

The then Duke of Rothesay at Fife Arms Hotel.
The then Duke and Duchess of Rothesay officially opened the refurbished Fife Arms in Braemar following its refurbishment.

RGU principal and vice-chancellor, Professor Steve Olivier said: “Iwan and Manuela Wirth are highly successful entrepreneurs with a long track record of success, first in the world of art and then more recently in hospitality.

“They are both inspirational and have dedicated their careers to fostering culture, supporting artists and engaging with communities through their projects across the world, as well as a little closer to home here in the north-east of Scotland.

“I am sure that many of the graduates can take a lot of inspiration from Iwan and Manuela Wirth as they step out into the world as socially conscious global citizens.”

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