Paul Jeffery isn’t your typical wealthy restaurant giant. He has the sort of humility you wouldn’t expect from a man that started Canadian chains Kelsey’s and Montana’s. He’s surprisingly down-to-earth and hands on. If you didn’t know better, you’d think he was an everyday worker around his newest purchase, the historic Windermere House resort on Lake Rosseau.

He rips opens boxes of patio umbrellas, fixes the ‘Windermere pub’ sign and talks with restaurant servers like they are family.

But the sheer volume of calls on his blackberry – the Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up ringtone is his theme song – gives him away.

“If there’s one thing I know, success isn’t about me – it’s about my team,” he says, taking a break in the resort’s new restaurant, the Rosseau Grill. “Nothing happens without people.”

Jeffery opened his first Kelsey’s restaurant in Oakville in 1978. At first, it was a “rockin’ place”, he says, with bouncers and live music. But as he grew up, so did his restaurant.

“The business sort of evolved with my lifestyle,” he says.

As he developed into a family man, the restaurant evolved into a family-oriented spot and soon took off, sprouting hundreds of locations around the country.

After selling his 240 restaurants – he also headed Montana’s and the Outback Steakhouse – he looked to Muskoka for a place to relax and settle down.

Property in the town of Windermere seemed to be a perfect fit.

“This place is like Disney world,” he says grinning. “You can drive around in a golf carts all day, go boating, or play a game or two on the tennis courts. It’s an oasis of fun.”

Along with dozens of staff, Jeffery and his four adult children have been working daily since he bought the resort in January.

“It’s a truly family affair,” he says proudly. “It’s not big branded. It’s not a Marriott, it’s a Jeffery.”

He says working with his family to revamp the 80-room resort, complete with fitness centre, sushi café, and outdoor patio, has been a challenge to get it open for the season. “We’ve been busy but we’ve had a great time,” he adds.

Stanley Goodman, the resort’s general manager and president, has worked with Jeffery for the 13 years in his various restaurant ventures.

“I truly enjoy working with him,” says Goodman. “It doesn’t ever feel like work. We have a similar vision of what guest service is all about.”

The two have worked to keep the old majestic feel to the Windermere House, a 140 year old resort on Lake Rosseau, which burned down 13 years ago during the filming of a Hollywood movie.

It was rebuilt exactly how it was, but Goodman and Jeffery say changes were needed to enhance the guests’ experience.

So when it came up for sale at the end of last year, Jeffery jumped at the chance.

The reception area, which used to be lakeside to accommodate guests arriving by steam ship, has now been moved to the entrance on the road side.

But they’ve left many rooms untouched, and have tried to enhance the charm of the historic resort.

Each door has old-fashioned key entry – no key card technology here – and a real person will answer all calls.

“You’ll never get an automated front desk attendant at this hotel,” Goodman gleams.

For Jeffery, the location of his new resort, “classic, traditional with a modern twist”, is unmatched. “It just feels so good up here,” he adds

He says driving north, heading past Highway 7, the stress just “starts to fall away from your body and you just know you’re on vacation.”