One of the north-east’s most famous hotels will reopen under new management – and with a continental twist.
The Pennan Inn will showcase the best of Scottish scenery in its new gallery, and the finest flavours of Germany from its kitchen.
New owners Roland and Monika Focht, from Dahlum, Germany, bought the three-bedroom Pennan Inn this spring and have wasted no time putting their stamp on the institution, made famous for its appearance in 1983 film Local Hero.
The pair, who will live in private quarters at the inn, have turned the former restaurant into an art gallery and will offer up a small evening menu there to guests.
There will also be a mix of outdoor food available to visitors from Monday.
The bar will reopen once social distancing measures, in place to stop the spread of Coronavirus, have eased.
Mrs Focht, 54, said: “The public bar is tiny so we will wait to open that a little later.
“But from Monday we’ll be welcoming people to the gallery and to stay. I’m working to source bratwurst to offer outside with coffee and ice-cream.
“It’s the perfect spot to enjoy some food with plenty of space to sit on the waterfront, and another reason to visit that phone box.”
The former nursery teacher says taking on the inn is a dream come true for her family, made possible after a chance encounter.
Mrs Focht said: “Our lifetime dream was to come to Scotland on holiday and we kept saying ‘next year, next year’.
“But after our first visit six years ago we went home and couldn’t get Scotland out of our heads. I didn’t feel at home when I was at home anymore.
“So we returned every year, and on our last visit to the north-east we finally managed to book in at the Pennan Inn. We got talking to the owner and told him of our dream to buy a bed and breakfast in Scotland and he offered to let us know if he heard of anywhere.
“I felt like crying and laughing when he got in touch last October offering us the inn.”
Mrs Focht and husband Roland, 48, a former postman, bought the inn from Peter Simpson, owner of 10 years, in April.
They are moving with son Dominik, 23, who hopes to study teaching at Aberdeen University. Their eldest son Falko lives in Hamburg.
“We sold our lovely house because this was our lifetime dream,” Mrs Focht added.
“It was a case of ‘if not now, then when?’ So we had to go for it. That’s become our motto and slogan for people visiting Pennan.”
The gallery currently features Mrs Focht’s photographs of Scotland, but will soon be opened up to other artists, in the hope that changing exhibitions will offer tourists another reason – besides the phone box – to visit Pennan.
