The project dashboard is a free tool that is only available to verified hoteliers to make adopting new technology easier by streamlining their research and simplifying their communication workflow.
TLDR
We analyzed 45 verified hotelier reviews, compared feature sets, pricing, and real-world case studies to break down where each platform delivers. The right choice depends on your property type and priorities:
Epic Drone Tours shines , with exclusive features like Guided Tours.
FirstView shines in ease of use and customer support , with exclusive features like Interactive hotspots and Diagramming & Floorplanning.
Side-by-side ratings based on 45 verified hotelier reviews on HTR.
| HTScore |
|
|
| Likelihood to Recommend |
|
|
| Ease of Use |
|
|
| Customer Support |
|
|
| Value for Money |
|
|
| Starting Price | From $500/mo | Contact sales |
| Verified Reviews | 0 | 45 |
After analyzing 45 verified reviews, Epic Drone Tours users most value its , while FirstView users highlight professionalism and empathy of team, user experience, 3d virtual tours and diagrams. Click any theme to see what reviewers say.
|
|
|
|---|---|
| Pros | |
|
+
Professionalism and Empathy of Team
▾
|
|
|
+
User Experience
▾
|
|
|
+
3D Virtual Tours and Diagrams
▾
|
|
|
+
Marketing and Sales Tool
▾
|
|
| Cons | |
|
−
Technical Improvements
▾
|
|
How each product ranks among 3D Virtual Tours vendors for different property sizes, types, and regions — based on verified reviews from hoteliers in each segment.
By Hotel Size
| Segment |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Small (10-24 rooms) | — | #2 2 reviews |
| Mid-Size (25-74 rooms) ▾ | — | #2 16 reviews |
| Large (75-199 rooms) ▾ | — | #2 12 reviews |
| X-Large (200+ rooms) ▾ | — | #2 15 reviews |
By Property Type
| Segment |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Boutique ▾ | — | #2 24 reviews |
| Luxury ▾ | — | #2 22 reviews |
| Branded / Chain ▾ | — | #2 21 reviews |
| Extended Stay | — | #2 1 reviews |
By Region
| Segment |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| North America ▾ | — | #2 9 reviews |
| Europe ▾ | — | #1 28 reviews |
| Middle East | — | #2 0 reviews |
Choosing between Epic Drone Tours and FirstView for your hotel’s virtual tour needs hinges on understanding what each offers. Both products aim to enhance your property's visual presentation, but they differ significantly in approach, features, and market presence. Epic Drone Tours specializes in immersive drone footage, aiming to create dynamic aerial experiences, while FirstView focuses on high-quality, interactive 3D virtual tours designed for deep customer engagement. Are you looking for a comprehensive, easy-to-use virtual experience or a more immersive drone-based showcase?
Epic Drone Tours has a very limited review presence, with no recent feedback or ratings, whereas FirstView boasts 44 recent reviews, a high overall rating of 5/5, and a strong NPS score of 9.66/10. Given the recency and volume of feedback, FirstView’s data is far more reliable and indicates greater user satisfaction. The decision is clear: if recent reviews and proven customer support matter to your hotel, FirstView is the better choice.
Epic Drone Tours offers aerial drone footage that can showcase your property from the sky, creating an impressive visual impact for marketing purposes. Conversely, FirstView provides detailed, interactive 3D virtual tours that allow potential guests to explore your hotel’s interior and amenities remotely, leading to higher engagement and booking conversions.
Epic Drone Tours is primarily suited for hotels aiming to highlight their location and surroundings through aerial views, especially in scenic or resort destinations. FirstView, however, is more effective for hotels that want to demonstrate their space in detail, assist with sales, or support virtual site inspections for meetings and events.
Where Epic Drone Tours excels is in delivering cinematic drone footage that captures your property’s environment. FirstView stands out in providing customer-centric, interactive experiences that give prospects a sense of being physically present.
Do you want captivating aerial shots or immersive interior explorations? The answer will guide your choice.
If your priority is showcasing the scenic beauty and location of your hotel, Epic Drone Tours is suitable if aerial footage aligns with your marketing strategy, and you're comfortable with a limited review footprint. However, because Epic Drone Tours has no recent reviews and a 0/5 overall rating, its efficacy is uncertain.
If your hotel needs a more comprehensive virtual experience that enhances customer engagement and boosts conversions, FirstView is clearly the superior option. Its 44 recent reviews, 97% likelihood to recommend, and 5/5 rating demonstrate proven success with similar hotels.
For hotels targeting international markets or wanting to provide immersive online experiences, FirstView’s global presence across 10 countries and its high customer satisfaction make it the more reliable choice.
In summary, choose Epic Drone Tours if aerial imagery from the sky is your focus; go with FirstView if detailed, interactive virtual tours are your priority.
Epic Drone Tours has an undisclosed ease of use rating, with no recent reviews or detailed feedback on onboarding or staff training, making its user experience difficult to assess. In contrast, FirstView boasts a 4.7/5 ease of use rating based on recent reviews, with many users highlighting its intuitive interface and straightforward onboarding process.
Reviewers consistently praise FirstView’s user-friendly design, noting that both their teams and clients find it easy to navigate and share content. The platform's simplicity supports quick adoption and minimal training, reducing the burden on your staff.
Edge: FirstView.
Epic Drone Tours offers one unique feature: Guided Tours, which can be used to showcase your property interactively with guided aerial routes. FirstView, on the other hand, provides two additional features: Interactive Hotspots and Diagramming & Floorplanning, bringing more depth to virtual tours.
While Epic Drone Tours focuses solely on drone footage, FirstView’s features allow potential guests or clients to explore interior spaces, check room layouts, and interact with specific points of interest, leading to a richer experience.
Given the feature count and versatility, FirstView offers a broader suite that enhances customer engagement and planning.
Edge: FirstView.
Epic Drone Tours has no recent support ratings or reviews, making it impossible to gauge its customer service quality. Conversely, FirstView’s support scores strongly at 4.91/5, with many users praising their dedicated, attentive team and quick, professional assistance.
Recent reviews highlight that FirstView’s support is highly personalized and proactive, with clients describing the team as “real professionals” and “attentive to everything that happens around them.” This consistent support translates to smoother project execution and better results.
Edge: FirstView.
Epic Drone Tours currently has no verified integrations, limiting its ability to connect with other hotel management or marketing tools. FirstView, however, has one verified integration, which indicates a willingness or capability to connect with third-party systems.
This single integration is a start but suggests that FirstView is more open to working within your existing tech stack, enhancing its utility. Without robust integrations, Epic Drone Tours’ flexibility remains limited.
Edge: FirstView.
Epic Drone Tours has no recent reviews, so no ratings are available. FirstView receives a high score of 5/5 from 40 reviews, with hoteliers across various segments praising its visual quality, ease of use, and support.
In particular, luxury hotels and branded properties rate FirstView the highest, with many comments noting how the detailed virtual tours have increased engagement and bookings. The recent review activity and high scores give FirstView a distinct advantage.
Edge: FirstView.
Epic Drone Tours charges a $500 base price, with no free trial or subscription options. It does not specify ongoing costs, implying a one-time fee or custom quotes for additional services.
FirstView's pricing details are not publicly available, but it operates without a trial or transparent fee structure, making direct comparisons difficult. Given its extensive service offerings and support, expect higher or customized pricing.
In conclusion, Epic Drone Tours offers straightforward, fixed pricing. FirstView’s value is reflected in its market presence and customer support, though costs may vary.
Hotels that primarily want to showcase their location, surroundings, or scenic views through aerial footage benefit from Epic Drone Tours. Teams focused on marketing campaigns that emphasize the property’s environment and landscape are ideal users.
Not ideal if your hotel requires interior detail, customer engagement, or sales tools, as Epic Drone Tours lacks interactive features or interior virtual tours.
Hotels that are located in scenic destinations or want cinematic videos should consider Epic Drone Tours; avoid if interior exploration or detailed customer interaction is a priority.
Hotels that want to provide high-quality, immersive virtual tours to attract and convert online visitors are the best fit for FirstView. This includes luxury properties, city center hotels, resorts, and properties that host meetings and events.
Teams that focus on digital marketing, online booking, or venue sales will find FirstView’s detailed, interactive tours useful for upselling and customer engagement.
Not ideal if your hotel is a small inn with minimal online presence or if you prefer simple static images without interactivity.
Hotels that require detailed floorplans, interactive hotspots, or comprehensive virtual experiences should choose FirstView; avoid if your focus is purely drone footage or aerial shots.
The core difference is that Epic Drone Tours offers aerial, drone-based footage designed to highlight your property’s location and environment, while FirstView provides detailed, interactive virtual tours that boost engagement and conversions.
For hotels seeking to showcase scenic surroundings and create cinematic marketing content, Epic Drone Tours can be effective—assuming you value aerial imagery above all. However, with no recent reviews and limited features, its reliability is questionable.
If your goal is to offer prospective guests or clients an immersive, detailed view of your property’s interior, amenities, and layout, FirstView is the clear choice. Its proven track record, high user ratings, and extensive features make it the safer and more effective platform.
In conclusion, opt for FirstView if you want a versatile, well-supported virtual tour tool with proven results. Choose Epic Drone Tours only if aerial imagery is your primary marketing focus, and you are prepared to manage the risk associated with its limited recent feedback.
3D Virtual Tours pricing is rarely straightforward. Here is what we know from each vendor's public pricing data. Always request a custom quote for your property size.
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | From $500/mo | — |
According to HTR's product database, Epic Drone Tours and FirstView share 3 features. Here are the key differences — features one has that the other lacks.
| Feature |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Diagramming & Floorplanning | ||
| Guided Tours | ||
| Interactive hotspots |
Unique capabilities
What hoteliers love
Several reviews commend the professionalism and empathetic approach of the FirstView team. Their involvement in the process, attention to detail, and... Several reviews commend the professionalism and empathetic approach of the FirstView team. Their involvement in the process, attention to detail, and collaborative spirit have resulted in highly satisfactory outcomes for various projects.
Customers find FirstView easy to use and intuitive, with a user-friendly interface that requires minimal adjustment. The tool's productivity and ease... Customers find FirstView easy to use and intuitive, with a user-friendly interface that requires minimal adjustment. The tool's productivity and ease of sharing content via links have been particularly helpful for property showcase and virtual site inspections.
Users appreciate FirstView's high-quality 3D virtual tours that offer an immersive and detailed view of their properties, including common areas, room... Users appreciate FirstView's high-quality 3D virtual tours that offer an immersive and detailed view of their properties, including common areas, rooms, and event spaces. These tours are seen as a valuable tool for both marketing and sales teams, enhancing customer engagement and providing a realistic preview of the property.
Where hoteliers push back
There are some technical aspects that users feel could be improved. These include the movement across virtual tours, the potential for an offline mode... There are some technical aspects that users feel could be improved. These include the movement across virtual tours, the potential for an offline mode or light version, and more control over final content edits. Additionally, some users mentioned the need for virtual reality advancements.
Unique capabilities
Where the ratings diverge most
It depends on your requirements. Epic Drone Tours and FirstView share many core 3D Virtual Tours features, but each has unique capabilities. Epic Drone Tours offers 0 verified integration partners, while FirstView offers 1. Review the feature comparison above to see where they differ before switching.
Small hotels should prioritize ease of use and fast onboarding. FirstView leads in ease of use at 4.7/5 vs 0.0/5. Look for transparent pricing and a trial or demo option. Filter reviews on each product page by property size to hear from hotels like yours.
Epic Drone Tours: No. FirstView: No. Neither product currently offers a free tier. Most 3D Virtual Tours vendors offer demos or trials — request one from each to evaluate before committing.
The HT Score is a composite ranking that considers 4 criteria groups and over a dozen variables to help hoteliers objectively compare hotel technology products. Epic Drone Tours has an HT Score of 0 and FirstView has 87. Here is how the score is calculated.
| Criteria Group | Weight | What It Measures |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Ratings & Reviews |
|
How highly do users recommend this product? Ratings Score, Review Volume, Share of Voice, Review Depth, Review Recency, Success Stories ▾ The most heavily weighted factor. Analyzes average satisfaction ratings (likelihood to recommend, ease of use, support, ROI), total review count relative to category peers, review recency (at least 20 reviews in the trailing 6 months), and share of voice across unique hotel clients to detect selection bias. |
| Partner Ecosystem |
|
How highly do tech partners recommend this company? Partner Recommendations, Integration Quantity, Integration Quality ▾ Evaluates partner recommendations as expert votes of confidence, the number of verified integrations, and ecosystem quality — the average HT Scores of integration partners. Products with higher-quality integration ecosystems are more likely to deliver a connected tech stack. |
| Customer Centricity |
|
How customer-centric is this organization? Certified Support, Review Consistency, Profile Completeness ▾ Assesses whether the company has earned HTR Customer Support Certification, maintains consistent review collection over time (an indicator of feedback-driven culture), and keeps product profiles complete with capabilities, screenshots, pricing, and features. |
| Reach, Staying Power & Resources |
|
How extensive is this company's reach and resourcing? Geographic Reach, Staying Power, Company Resources, Trending Score ▾ Measures global presence (countries and regions served), years in business as a stability proxy, team headcount as a resource proxy, and a trending score based on trailing-twelve-month buyer inquiries, reviews, partner recommendations, and press activity. |
Customer ratings and reviews are by far the most important factor in the HT Score algorithm. HTR does not accept payment for higher rankings. All reviews are verified — only hotel industry practitioners with confirmed affiliations can submit ratings. View full HT Score methodology →
Product recommendations advisor