Leigh Hitz

Biography at a Glance

Leigh Hitz recently retired as chief executive officer for Stout Street Hospitality, 28 years after joining its original inception as the Steven Holtze Corporation. She led Stout Street Hospitality through the successful acquisition of the Mayfair Hotel, and rebranded the hotel in early summer 2014 as Magnolia Hotel St. Louis.

Prior to the purchase of the Mayfair Hotel, Hitz helped craft the management agreement to oversee operations of the Holiday Inn Dallas Central – Park Cities. The Holiday Inn Dallas Central – Park Cities and Mayfair acquisition are part of the company’s expansion strategy, which began with a corporate identity change from Magnolia Hotels to Stout Street Hospitality. Hitz believed it was important to change the company’s corporate entity to reflect its revamped goals of strategically expanding the company to include branded hotels and resorts, franchise opportunities, construction, extended stay and its core product – historic, independent boutique hotels.

Before joining Stout Street, she held various sales and operations positions at independent and branded properties throughout Colorado.

In 2008, Hitz and her husband, James, established a scholarship fund for female students pursuing a hospitality degree at the University of Denver’s School Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management. Hitz has previously been named a finalist for the Denver Business Journal’s “Business Woman of the Year” award.

Currently, she is active with several hotel associations and convention bureaus and sits on the Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management Executive Advisory Board.

Education

• BSBA in Hospitality, University of Denver
• General Managers Program, Cornell University’s Hotel School