How Agnelo Fernandes is Making Cote Hospitality Epic

Agnelo Fernandes is on a mission to make Cote Hospitality ‘epic’. He wants to transform both the guest and the associate experience to drive meaningful connections, and he’s doing this through hands-on management and embracing technology and AI.

Founded in 1928, Cote Hospitality prides itself on delivering a wholesome, family vacation experience at all its resorts and camps in Minnesota and Arizona. The family-owned company delivers on tradition and excellence, with a commitment to positively impacting the guest, the associate, and the communities in which it operates.

The company already operates at a high bar, but Agnelo, CEO of Cote Hospitality, believes they can strive for better. That ‘epic’ is achievable.

“The concept of being epic is this journey from being transactional to being relational to then being transformational,” he explained.

Agnelo describes it with a coffee analogy. You go buy a coffee. That’s transactional. You go buy a coffee, and the server asks, ‘How’s your day?’ That’s relational. Or you can take it to the next level, whereby the server aims to emotionally connect, and the coffee purchase becomes a conversation starter.

“I've not only asked you how you're doing, but I’ve also inspired you to ask me a question, and I can tell you a story. Suddenly, we make a connection,” Agnelo said.

“To me, that's what we try to do. It's all about the experience that comes from the way we deliver our service and tell our stories. You can't be epic until you start connecting with people.”

Putting People First

Agnelo puts people at the center. At Cote Hospitality, he has worked with the team to internally develop two programs: G.U.I.D.E. and G.R.A.C.E.

“The impetus of this really is a keen focus on culture and service delivery. And that, to me, is the competitive edge we have in the marketplace. And we want to continue building on that,” Agnelo said.

G.U.I.D.E. is a mentorship program, championed by the People Services team and property leaders.

“It's all about developing the current leadership group, but also looking at who the rising stars are,” said Agnelo.

G.U.I.D.E. is a cross-discipline, cross-property program in which the team handpicks and matches mentors with mentees. The program runs for six months and includes developing communication, conflict resolution, business acumen, decision-making, and other facets of leadership. It even extends to team summer camps.

The aim is to build a cohort of leaders who now have a support network to share best practices and operational tips with.

“It's been great for retention and a great benchmark-building strategy,” Agnelo remarked.

The G.R.A.C.E. program focused on service. This is driven by on-property teams, primarily the Assistant General Managers (AGMs).

“The AGMs are closest to the field. We have our SOPs, our standards of care, and our VIP processes, but now we want the team to work to refine all that, via G.R.A.C.E.,” said Agnelo.

G.R.A.C.E. is delivered in two tracks: full-time associates and seasonal staff, because, as Agnelo says, “One size does not fit all when it comes to onboarding, training, and retaining.”

AI sits at the heart of the G.U.I.D.E. and G.R.A.C.E. programs.

“It's all being done leveraging AI because it's a monumental task to go department by department, outlet by outlet, creating these standards. Because we leverage AI, it can be created so quickly and effectively. All you've got to do is have clarity in the direction that you want to go and verify the information,” Agnelo said.

Embracing AI to Deliver on Service

An early adopter of AI-driven solutions such as LLMs, Agnelo has been using them to examine how Hospitality can improve its service standards and solve issues before they even arise.

“In 2024, we took all our guest reviews, and we said, let's use AI to plot the top five areas that define our value proposition and align with what we are trying to do. And then let's do the opposite. And that really was eye-opening because we thought these are things that we do naturally, but that's not what the guests were saying,” explained Agnelo.

“We did the same thing with our associate engagement scores. As an organization, we're all about enriching lives and creating those unforgettable moments, but we asked, ‘Are we effectively doing it?’ It showed me you've got to peel back a little bit, realign, and then move forward. What it has done is enabled us to get over that fear of ‘Is this something that's going to hinder performance or enhance it?’”

The result was that Agnelo and the senior leadership team rewrote their brand architecture, starting with their value proposition.

Now, everyone from the IT team to the CFO, People Services, Marketing, and Revenue teams is using AI in their daily tasks.

“For a small organization that is aspiring to grow, I think we are game-ready,” Agnelo said.

Optimizing Profitability and Operations

As well as embracing AI, the team at Cote Hospitality is embracing the full Actabl portfolio of products.

“In 2026, we have more technology at our hands, we're smarter, we are wiser, but that doesn't happen without us all being on the same wavelength. Thanks to Actabl, we've chosen partners not just vendors,” Agnelo remarked.

Agnelo encourages teams to use the Actabl suite daily. ProfitSword, for example, is not just used by the Director of Finance. The Chief People Services Officer has been using it to better align on labor, to ensure schedules match the forecast.  

“ProfitSword has enabled us to have more clarity into what truly matters most. And that is what's going to happen the next week, the next month, the next three months. I love the backward reporting. It's great for budgeting for the following year and lessons learned, but our focus has now changed to what's happening now, what’s changed since last week,” Agnelo explained.

The team uses Hotel Effectiveness for labor optimization and has seen great success with effective scheduling.

“Hotel Effectiveness has given us confidence in scheduling. Because you can either hurt yourself big time by overstaffing, or you cannot have enough staff and then hurt your service delivery. That's why you need the data,” Agnelo explained.

The Cote Hospitality team also uses Alice for housekeeping, service delivery, and operations

“Alice has been a great equalizer for us in terms of connecting the communication. The data is at your fingertips. That means fewer handovers, less dropping the ball. And at the end of the day, it's all about letting our staff get in front of the guests,” Agnelo said.

Looking ahead, Agnelo has ambitions to expand the Cote Hospitality portfolio, and technology will be at the heart of this.

“In 2026, my mantra is about profitable revenue, and if it's not profitable, let's not do it.

“The way we do it is by dominating market share, having focused commercial strategies, having discipline in our cost control, keeping a close eye on the voice of our guests and, more importantly, the voice of our associates.

“We have the evaluation tools, we have the BI, we have amazing leaders who have experience. So, the trifecta should enable us to move forward. If we drive profitable revenue with relentless determination, we win the game.”

And that is how Agnelo Fernandes will make Cote Hospitality epic.

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