Named a UN 'biosphere,' region looks to rebrand.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: SPECIAL REPORT: PARRY SOUND - Jolly Roger Inn

The new owners of Parry Sound's former Jolly Roger Inn hope to restore the original lustre to the venerable Highway 69 institution.

The father-and-son management team of Anil and Ankur Sharma intend to rejuvenate the 53-unit hotel's reputation as one of the area's premier hospitality venues.

The Sharma family has been a fixture as local hoteliers for the past 18 years in operating the Traveller's Hotel and the Mid-Town Hotel.

Situated on a 32-acre property next to Highway 69-400, 'the Jolly' was expropriated by the Ontario government prior to the widening and four-laning of Highway 69 four years ago.

Slated at first for demolition by the Ministry of Transportation (MTO), the hotel was saved and operated for a time by the Ontario government.

Under the previous owners, Ernie and Ingrid Muller, the hotel enjoyed a stellar and award-winning reputation. But hotel sales began to slip until eventually the Ontario Realty Corporation put the building and property up for sale last year. The Sharma's finalized the deal in December.

They are promising to be committed and dedicated owners.

"A business without an owner is not as successful," says manager Ankur Sharma. "The pain doesn't come from within. When it's your own thing, it's important, it matters."

Under the Quality Inn banner, the Sharma's have big and small plans in the works starting with menu changes in the restaurant. The first phase of major renovations on 23 rooms aimed at bringing them up the hotel chain's standards are underway. The two conference rooms will also receive a facelift and some rooms will be converted into suites.

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"It's always been a beautiful property and was something we used to look at all the time (driving) past it," says Sharma. "We knew it was a great thing and knew how well it was doing before when Ernie and Ingrid (Muller) were running the place.

"The minute we heard it was going up for sale, we saw the potential and knew how beautiful the property was. The location and everything was just so ideal."

Just 500 metres away from the hotel is the Seguin Valley Golf and Country Club, considered one of Ontario's best new golf destinations. Sharma says he is working with the club's ownership to set up stay-and-play packages.

The morale of staff has vastly improved under the new ownership, says Sharma. "Naturally if you have people standing around with no work, morale is going to fall. When it's busy, which it has been in the last two months since...