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.

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”.