Richard Gere Joins Prince Charles in Owning a Bed & Breakfast Inn

Martha Stewart has dined at Richard Gere’s restaurant, the first part of his country inn complex located in Bedford, New York. The renovated 18-century house and barn is being converted into a luxury inn by Gere and business partner Russell Hernandez. Chef Brian Lewis, for his menu of American Farmhouse Cuisine, uses ingredients gathered “from small family farms, using only what’s in season and only the highest quality.” The cafe serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We look forward to visiting the inn when the eight suites are finished. 

Prince Charles is starting an eco-friendly B&B at Carmarhenshire in Wales. He applied to the local planning commission for permission to open his farmhouse to paying guests. It’s been called by locals: C&Cs B&B, for Charles and Camilla. Architect Craig Hamilton is reported to be working on the plans.

In America, innkeepers continue to report increasing visits by celebrities who value the seclusion, high service levels and sense of place inns provide. Recent star stays include Meg Ryan, Montel Williams, Cameron Diaz and John Grisham. It’s reported that up to 50% of all inn guests consider owning an inn themselves, so one of those celebrities may soon open an inn near you! Until then, enjoy a stay at one of these incredible castles. “It’s good to be King!”

Built in 1889, Denver’s Castle Marne is a turretted stone testament to elegant days gone by. In fact, much of the interior is faithful to Castle Marne’s glory days. The dining room is adorned with original cherry paneling and Lincrusta wallpaper from England, the dining room greets you every morning with fresh baked breads and muffins, coffee, tea, juices and a gourmet breakfast with fresh seasonal fruits; all served on china and linen. Meanwhile, the splendid parlor has been restored to boast  famous dolphin carvings on the massive mahogany fireplace. Finish a puzzle in the turret and enjoy a quiet getaway from the day’s hustle and bustle. You are told to: “Take your shoes off and relax as you would at home, because our house is your house.”

Standing tall in Sidney, Ohio, the Great Stone Castle Bed and Breakfast is literally that; a great sprawling Victorian mansion with 18″ thick Bedford Indiana limestone walls, a big wraparound porch and three turrets! Inside, this century-old B&B is finished in rare hardwoods brought in from faraway lands by ship and steel rails. Add 100 year-old oak trees and two acres of lawn and garden, and the Great Stone Castle is truly a regal place to rest your lordly head. The first floor is home to ballroom, banquet, and turret rooms perfect for weddings, receptions, parties, and corporate off-site meetings. The second floor hosts the B&B suites. For those requiring the upper crust of luxurious treatments, private baths, Victorian furniture, and fireplaces are available.

What is a castle without a moat, or at least an imposing view over waterfront property? Well, at the Spicer Castle Bed & Breakfast Inn in Spicer, Minnesota, you won’t have to settle for less. Designed as an Tudor fishing lodge on the shore of Green Lake, Spicer Castle was built by John Spicer in 1895; the grandfather of the current innkeeper. He called it Medayto Cottage, but local fishermen took to calling the landmark Spicer’s Castle. Eventually it turned up in maps as Spicer Castle, and so the fishing lodge has been named for decades since. Spicer Castle’s rooms are tastefully decorated with period furniture, and the B&B also offers Murder Mystery Dinners and dinner cruises on Green Lake.

If you prefer a castle in the European chateau style, then pay a visit to Manresa Castle in Port Townsend, Washington. Built by Charles Eisenbeis in 1892–a local mayor and business magnate with investments in a bakery, brick works, lumber mill, brewery, bank and a hotel–Manresa Castle is a 30-room mansion. Built of 12″ thick brick from Eisenbeis’ own brick works, Manresa features slate roofs, tiled fireplaces and finely crafted woodwork made by German artisans. The rooms are elegantly decorated. Room 302 even has a sitting room in the turret! Add the Castle Key Restaurant–which Best Places Northwest has called “The Finest Dining Room on the Olympic Peninsula”–and Manresa Castle is truly fit for a king.  

Prefer wood? Then Hoquiam’s Castle Bed & Breakfast in Hoquiam, Washington will be more to your taste. Yet another vast Victorian manor complete with its own turret, Hoquiam’s Castle B&B features five splendid period-furnished and decorated rooms. This 10,000 square foot home has three floors that proudly display the original craftsmanship of extensive wood paneling, ceilings, floors and columns. Cut crystal chandeliers, Tiffany-style lamps, leaded and stained glass windows are some of the beautiful antique furnishings which enhance the Castle. Bring your tiara and crown!

Back in the northeastern United States, Belhurst Castle is an authentic Victorian stone mansion with turret, 14 elegant period rooms, and an excellent history. Before Belhurst was built, William Henry Bucke, lived on the site as a recluse under the name Henry Hall. It is reported that while dying of a blood infection in 1836, it had been discovered that William Henry Bucke had been treasurer of the famed Covent Garden Theater in London. Apparently he had embezzled theater funds, married his stepmother, fled to the United States and assumed the name Henry Hall in an effort to avoid capture! Hall’s house was eventually demolished, with the present Belhurst Castle being built in the 1880s. Today, you can revel in its carved cherry, chestnut and rich mahogany; mosaic-tiled fireplaces and beamed cathedral ceilings!

Browse through the 19,000 bed and breakfasts and country inns that specialize in other locations and events that may interest you. Many of the properties listed above are also in the best-selling bed and breakfast guidebook Bed & Breakfasts and Country Inns with a Buy-One-Night-Get-One-Night-Free Certificate. ILoveInns also offers Bed and Breakfast Gift Certificates, a perfect solution to help celebrate any occasion.

About American Historic Inns and iLoveInns.com
American Historic Inns, Inc. (www.iloveinns.com), founded in 1981, is the leading publisher of bed and breakfast guidebooks, with more than 2.5 million bed and breakfast guidebooks sold, and runs iLoveInns.com, a top bed and breakfast and country inns directory.