Tributes paid to 'truly inspirational' hotelier Stewart Spence

Tributes have been paid to Aberdeen hotelier Stewart Spence following his death.

The well-known hotelier has passed away at the age of 77, according to a BBC report.

Frank Whitaker, associate chairman of the Aberdeen City and Shire Hotels’ Association (ACSHA), described Spence as a role model for other business leaders. 

Spence ran multiple hotels and restaurants in the Aberdeen area from the 1970s.

He opened the Marcliffe hotel in its current location in 1993, when the launch was attended by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and the hotel went on to win a five-star rating from VisitScotland.

Spence’s son Ross took over as managing director after his father’s retirement in 2020 and the Marcliffe was sold to Sir Jim Milne’s Balmoral Group last year.

Spence was also involved in promoting the wider industry and co-founded the Aberdeen Hotels’ Association, now the ACSHA, in the 1980s to help market the region.

In 1990 he was one of 14 hoteliers who created the Grampian Hotel and Catering Training Association, which now trades as Hospitality Training and offers a range of courses and development programmes.

“Many hospitality professionals who have learned and developed their careers in this region have done so because Stewart was able to turn his passions into actions that still hold influence today,” said Whitaker.

Spence was awarded an MBE for his services to the Scottish tourism industry in 2015.

Whitaker said: “The hotel community in Aberdeen and the north east is saddened by the loss of a truly inspirational hotelier, whose vision and leadership benefitted not just his own establishment, but many businesses and careers in region too. We extend our deepest condolences to Stewart’s family.

“Stewart was a real professional, recognising at an early stage that Aberdeen needed to work hard together to have legacy success from a burgeoning oil industry. 

“Having positioned the Marcliffe as Aberdeen’s luxury place to stay, Stewart was a role model for business leaders. He worked as hard on external influencing, knowing that his business would benefit from better economic conditions in the region, as he did on his own hotel.”

He added: “At heart, Stewart was the consummate hotelier; as comfortable playing host to international figures like Mikhail Gorbachev as he was teaching young hotel team members his standards of perfection. He was a towering figure in the region’s hotel world and many of us in the industry would be proud to leave a fraction of the legacy that he has; this truly is the passing of an icon.”

Milne said: “It is with great sadness that we remember Stewart Spence following his passing. He earned immense respect for his contributions and the remarkable legacy he built at Marcliffe. His work has set the standard for quality and hospitality in the region, and we are committed to ensuring those standards endure. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with his family during this difficult time.”