Do You Dream of Opening a Resort on a Secluded Island? These ‘Accidental Hoteliers’ Did It — Here’s How.

It sounds like the stuff dreams are made of: opening a resort on a private island. But Gwenn and Mark Snider, the married co-founders of Little Gem Resorts, made it a reality in 2019.

Located one mile northwest of St. John, Lovango Resort & Beach Club might look like it sprang effortlessly from its secluded tropical island-scape, with its accommodations, pool- and ocean-side cabanas, dining options and retail shops designed to blend in with the natural surroundings.

But building such an operation on an island is no easy feat, even for a pair of founders who got their start in the hospitality industry more than 25 years ago.

Opening Winnetu Oceanside Resort and The Nantucket Hotel & Resort

The Sniders, who are based in Massachusetts, consider themselves “accidental hoteliers.” They always loved to travel with their children, and thought there were opportunities to elevate family travel. The couple joined the construction and real estate business owned by Mark’s family and opened their first resort, Winnetu Oceanside Resort, on the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in 2000. 

“We cut our teeth on that hotel,” Gwenn says. The experience would come in handy when the duo purchased and rebuilt The Nantucket Hotel & Resort in 2012. That property became the second location in the couple’s Little Gem Resorts collection, but they weren’t done yet. 

The Sniders faced a challenge with their seasonal island properties: retaining employees long term. “In order to raise the bar and maintain the quality we need, if we could find a southern U.S., opposite season location where visas were not required, we could rotate our staff year round between the north and the south and vice versa,” Mark says.

Searching for the next Little Gem Resorts property: Lovango

The Sniders turned their attention to St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands; they’d always enjoyed vacationing there and saw the potential for development. Mark showed Gwenn a YouTube video of an island property for sale — just a 10-minute boat ride from St. John and St. Thomas. The couple visited in 2018. 

“There was almost nothing here,” Gwenn recalls. “They left us here overnight with a peanut butter sandwich, and we were like, Well, I hope they come back for us. But it gave us 24 hours to really explore and try to imagine what we’ve been able to build here.”

The Sniders negotiated the purchase of 42 acres on Lovango Cay (about half of the island) with its owners for about a year and a half, finalizing the deal in November 2019. On February 5, 2020, the couple opened a minimal restaurant on the property. It closed about a month later when the pandemic hit. 

Despite the difficult start, the Sniders forged ahead. The couple focused on building the infrastructure required to operate a private island resort; that process took about five years to stabilize, Mark notes.

Lovango Resort & Beach Club’s paradisiacal offerings

Lovango Resort & Beach Club opened with 11 glamping tents and treehouses in December 2021. The resort currently has 29 accommodations, including one-to-three bedroom villas, though it’s permitted for 70 plus 14 private villas. 

The property, recently awarded two Michelin Keys, empowers guests to live out the tropical fantasy of their choosing. 

Pair a book with a Painkiller cocktail at the Beach Club. Or head to Crescent Beach for swimming and snorkeling. Embark on a scenic hike or weight session at the “Gym in the Jungle.” Peruse the “little village” of six retail shops. Hop on the frequent private resort ferry to take a day trip to the white-sanded Honeymoon Beach or spend time on St. John. Visit the Waterfront Restaurant for a sophisticated dining experience or the Sandpit for a more casual one. 

Operating an off-the-grid, sustainability-minded property

Lovango Resort & Beach Club is a completely off-the-grid, sustainability-minded property. It built its own roads into the hilly terrain, supplies its water via reverse osmosis, is partnering on a coral restoration project in partnership with the University of the Virgin Islands, and is now 100% solar powered. 

Naturally, that level of self-sufficiency in a hospitality business comes with some logistical hurdles. “If you run out of something, there’s no HomeGoods,” Gwenn quips.

That means even small decisions must be made well in advance: for example, the type of bedding in a tropical climate with no commercial laundry in the vicinity. (Gwenn opted for Matouk linens, which boast breathable natural fibers to keep guests cool and have a non-iron option that prevents wrinkles).

The little things can have an outsized impact in the hospitality industry, where guests want to be able to relax — to rest assured they can “just exhale,” Gwenn says.

Hands-on employees — and human connection — remain critical

Of course, a resort’s employees play a crucial role in executing on those details, and cultivating a positive experience overall.

Little Gem has more than 100 employees at each property, with anywhere from 20-40 of them rotating across locations. That rotation helps create an important cultural through-line across properties, Mark notes. 

The Sniders and their son Matt Snider, director of operations at Little Gem Resorts, model a hands-on, “high-touch mentality. That means being aware of which guests have visited their other properties (a regular occurrence), chatting with them to get a sense of their priorities and feedback, and generally seeking to surprise and delight on every level.

“ To get into this business, you have to love people,” Gwenn says. Although a lot has changed in the travel and hospitality industry over more than two decades, that desire for human connection remains the same, Mark adds. 

Lovango Resort & Beach Club is in the business of fulfilling its guests wildest tropical vacation dreams — the same desire for expectation-exceeding experiences that’s driven Little Gem Resorts for decades.

“ We’re a bit of an anomaly being a family-owned business that has been able to create a little collection of hotels,” Gwenn says. “Mark and I dreamed of this when we started. We kind of pinch ourselves. We love the fact that we’ve built from a place of excitement and enchantment.”