Mystery surrounds a high profile Perthshire hotelier who, it is claimed, has left his award-winning business.
Pete Gottgens, the South African proprietor of the Ardeonaig Hotel on the banks of Loch Tay, near Kenmore, has made a name for himself in Scotland at the upmarket establishment.
But rumours are sweeping the area that Mr Gottgens, who is also the chef, has cut his ties with the business.
When contacting the hotel, The Courier was told by the member of staff in charge that he could not make any comment on the ownership issue.
He pointed out that as of last week the hotel has closed for the winter, which it did not do last year.
He insisted the hotel would re-open in the spring.
The hotel website has been shut down and it is understood that another hotel in Pitlochry has already received diverted bookings from the Ardeonaig.
Mr Gottgens hit the headlines earlier this year when he set up Scotland’s first vineyard 800 vines over two acres to produce a white dessert wine.
He is a former personal chef to Nelson Mandela and has received wide-ranging reviews at Ardeonaig.
One restaurant critic wrote, “Gottgens is quite a character, a self-confessed ‘temperamental chef’ and ‘strict, hard-core operator’.
“This is no exaggeration, judging by the booming voice and Gordon Ramsay language flying from the kitchen for all to hear, not to mention the rictus smiles and nervous glances of the often-changing staff (60% South Africans).”
The critic continues, “He’s honest about his management style and with reason. He’s turned a failed hotel into a success, and one that delivers.”
On the hotel review website Trip Advisor, others are less effusive in their assessment.
A visitor from Pennsylvania stayed at the hotel in August and said, “How sad that the son of a well-respected hotelier can get it so wrong?”
About £1.6 million was spent on refurbishing the hotel and Mr Gottgens won a bronze medal at the Scottish Chef Awards two years ago.