Richard Gere Named Relais & Châteaux 2011 Ambassador

Richard Gere, the esteemed actor and passionate innkeeper of the Bedford Post, has been named the 2011 Ambassador of Relais & Châteaux.

The charming eight-bedroom Bedford Post, located about an hour north of New York City, owned by Gere, his wife Carey Lowell and their business partner Russell Hernandez, is a new addition to the Relais & Châteaux family. As a result, the acclaimed actor of “Chicago” and “Pretty Woman” has stepped into the role of the Ambassador as a Relais & Châteaux innkeeper himself. He succeeds the author Douglas Kennedy in 2009, and the wine grower and actress Carole Bouquet in 2010.

Mr. Gere undertook the restoration project of the Bedford Post as an act of preservation in order to provide a gathering place for his local community. The actor embraced the idea and transformed this abandoned property into a club house gathered around fine food and wine and a serene art de vivre.

In his introduction to the emblematic 2011 Guide, Richard Gere notes: “In my long career, I’ve played many challenging and demanding characters, but believe me none more so than my real life role as Innkeeper”. Gere is the perfect example of a Relais & Châteaux innkeeper, and he beautifully articulates the common values shared by all members in the following passage: “We share a kindred spirit with the other Relais & Chateaux innkeepers: a genuine commitment to serve, a rather insane attention to detail, a passion for beauty in all its forms and a personal aspiration to make our world a little better for us having been here.”

Commenting on Richard Gere’s role as ambassador, Jaume Tapiès, International President of Relais & Châteaux said, “It is an absolute honour to welcome Mr. Gere as the new 2011 Relais & Châteaux ambassador. Not only is he one of Hollywood’s most admired actors, he is the quintessential innkeeper whose personal journey to revive and maintain a historic property is an exceptional example of the passion that binds Relais & Châteaux together.”

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