November 21, 2025

Wheeling University Business Students Get Inside Look into Operating a Successful Business

WHEELING, W.Va., November 21 – The general manager of The Hampton Inn of Wheeling offered Wheeling University Business students some keys to running a successful business when the class visited and toured the local hotel.

Fourteen members of the Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality Industry course got an inside look at the successful operations at an award-winning hotel.

Dr. Zahra Mohebbi, assistant professor of Business and the class instructor, said, “Visiting a hotel allowed the students to see how the tourism and hospitality industry operates, bridging the gap between theory and practice. It helps the students understand daily operations, customer service operations and standards, and various career roles, while making classroom concepts more tangible and engaging.”

Jack Poling, general manager of The Hampton Inn, gave the students a brief overview, before showing them around the hotel.

“I love being a part of this family-owned business, and I want to share that with the students. This is a successful business and explaining what we do to make The Hampton Inn successful could help each of them as they set out to begin their careers,” Poling said.

He told the students two key factors to the hotel’s success is its location and ownership. Poling said both of these factors will pertain to running a hotel or any business. The hotel, which is near a major highway, draws in customers because of its close proximity to larger businesses like Wheeling University and WVU Medicine. Being near leisure attractions also draws in guests.

Poling, who was a guest lecturer in the class recently, told the students the hotel’s long-time ownership, the Hitchman family, believes offering personalized service is why guests stay at the hotel and continue to come back.

“If you can get them to the front desk with their optimism intact, you’ve done a good job. Our ownership believes in doing the little things to make each person’s stay special. If we have kids in the lobby in the morning looking at the fish tank, we ask them to help us feed the fish. It is that type of service that matters to our customers,” Poling explained.

This is the first time Dr. Mohebbi has taken this class to view a hotel and she is grateful to Poling for “offering our students a unique opportunity to observe first-hand the successful business practices and high industry standards” at the Hampton Inn.

“Students gained a practical understanding of the tourism and hospitality industry by observing how hotels operate on a day-to-day basis. They learned the importance of customer service standards, and the different career roles available. The visit allowed them to connect the theory we have been discussing in the classroom to real-world practice,” she added.Opportunities like this, Dr. Mohebbi said, give students the chance to explore the many career possibilities that are available once they complete their degrees.