Hotel industry vet Michael Sneyd has launched his own firm and come on board at the JW Marriott in Muskoka to guide the Lake Rosseau resort’s growth into a four-season mixed-use hotel-condo village.

We snapped Michael on site at the JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort & Spa. The 221-unit hotel-condo building behind him, built in 2009, was the first phase of a master plan development known as Red Leaves. Initially carried out by builder Ken Fowler, the project ended up in receivership and was bought in 2011 by Canadian Niagara Hotels. Michael, who earlier this year left Skyline International Development (owner of Deerhurst Resort, Horseshoe Resort and the village at Blue Mountain) arrived to oversee sale of remaining inventory and development of future phases, with lakefront cottages next.

Michael tells us he’s happy to get back to being more hands-on in the development process. As Skyline’s CEO, he managed teams and crafted strategy, but was "a number of layers away” from doing on-the-ground work. (Before Skyline, as head of Signature Properties, he built a prototype JW Marriott resort in Arizona). When Michael informed an old mentor he’d struck out on his own—his new venture is MJS Developments—“he said he thought I’d have done this by the time I was 35.” Michael waited a bit longer, “but look at Colonel Sanders, he was in his 60s when he started that chain.”

The intention is to carry out the original Red Leaves master plan at Canada’s first JW Marriott. The vision, Michael notes, is for a four-season village with town square and marina, shops and eateries, and lakefront boardwalk. “It’ll all come to pass,” he says, with a few modifications. (Ken Fowler retained ownership of neighbouring Clevelands House, an aging resort slated to be replaced as part of his plan.) First up, though, Michael and his team are selling 132 of the 221 condo-hotel units built in the JW Marriott's first phase (some, mostly the ones held by international investors, were returned when the project ran into financial trouble).

The Rosseau’s main lodge has a steakhouse, Italian restaurant and casual family dining spot, plus a poolside bistro, general store and bustling lobby lounge, a JW Marriott signature. (The JW brand sits between Ritz-Carlton and Courtyard in the Marriott stable.) The Rosseau building, constructed for $175M, has a fitness centre, spa with 11 treatment rooms and private pool (below), and 15k SF conference centre. Units boast stone fireplaces, hardwood floors and granite countertops. Suites can be used by the owner nine weeks a year, then placed in a rental pool.

Marriott treats franchisees like The Rosseau well, Michael points out, but it also monitors them closely. “They send people to ensure quality standards are met.” He’s worked with every hotel company in the book, “and you can see why Marriott is now No. 1 in the world.” Unit sales at The Rosseau launch this fall, and while Michael’s hoping they’ll move a big chunk right off the bat, “it might take another year or two” to clear out inventory. Marriott is watching The Rosseau closely, he says, noting other Canadian markets could do well with a JW-brand resort (BC, for example). “There are definitely more opportunities here.”