Begin with the program
Before choosing scenes, ask what the planner is evaluating. Confirm attendance, event pattern, guestrooms, general session, breakouts, meals, reception and production needs. A wedding, an executive retreat and a citywide overflow group need different property stories.
For an illustrative association meeting, the useful route may start at arrival and registration, move into the general session, show the breakouts, then cover the reception and guestrooms. Use the program to decide what deserves attention.
Show the room and the evidence
Show enough viewpoints to understand the room’s shape, columns, windows, ceiling features and door locations. Pair that media with the approved floorplan and recorded setup capacities.
An empty ballroom shows the shell. Representative setup imagery helps the buyer understand the experience. Label the configuration and explain that a proposed production layout still needs hotel and vendor review.
| Planner question | Useful evidence | Follow-up to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Will the program fit? | Approved dimensions, setup capacities and floorplan | Stage, screens, control positions, aisles and operating requirements |
| How does the event flow? | Connected viewpoints and meeting-floor overview | Competing events, access times and circulation |
| Can production get in? | Loading-path images and logistics notes | Dock access, door clearances, freight lifts and delivery rules |
| Will the guest stay work? | Relevant room-type and arrival media | Actual inventory, room mix, rates and availability |
Show how the spaces work together
The planner needs to see how the pieces connect. Show the relationship between ballroom and pre-function, general session and breakouts, meeting floors and guestrooms. Include restrooms, elevators, escalators and accessible routes where relevant.
Use real space names. Identify changes of floor and flag routes that need clarification. A short written explanation beside a floorplan can be more useful than another panorama with no context.
Production and service routes deserve their own conversation. A guest-facing tour should not imply that a service corridor is approved for attendee movement.
Choose self-guided, guided or both
Self-guided review gives remote stakeholders a way to inspect the recommendation on their own schedule. Keep the journey focused and make the floorplan, facts and contact path easy to find.
A guided review lets the salesperson explain tradeoffs, answer questions and adjust the recommendation. Screen sharing and a prepared digital experience can support that conversation without requiring the tool to have native live-tour controls.
Use the guided session to resolve questions. Leave a curated link afterward so the buyer can return to the spaces and materials discussed.
Make the physical visit more focused
Remote evaluation can help the buyer narrow a shortlist and prepare a better site-visit agenda. It can also involve stakeholders who will not travel.
Physical review remains valuable for acoustics, service delivery, condition, accessibility details and complex production requirements. Identify those items before the visit, then spend the visit resolving them.
Record what is approved, what remains tentative and who owns the next answer. Visual confidence should be backed by operational confirmation.
How FOH Visual supports the inspection
FOH Visual connects 360 media with structured spaces, configurations, floorplans and collateral. The hotel can share a public exploration experience or create a buyer-specific Deal Room around the proposed program.
Plan mode in sales-shared experiences adds attendance and setup filters, comparison and shortlisting. Space-aware inquiries and engagement activity help the team continue the conversation.
FOH’s current purpose is to make the hotel easier to evaluate before and between site visits. Native reservations, live rate availability and full event-diagram authoring are outside the current pilot scope.
A focused remote-review agenda
| Review step | Question to resolve |
|---|---|
| Orient | Which rooms and dates does this recommendation cover? |
| Walk the program | How do arrival, sessions, meals and guestrooms connect? |
| Check the evidence | Do the named rooms, floorplans and proposed setups agree? |
| Assign the next answer | Who confirms the remaining operational and commercial questions? |
Send the inspection checklist before the call and the venue scorecard afterward. Let the planner use the same evidence in their internal review.
Common questions
Is a virtual site inspection different from a virtual tour?
A tour provides visual exploration. A site inspection uses that content with program requirements, planning facts and guidance to evaluate whether the property is suitable.
Can it replace an in-person visit?
It can support some decisions, especially early evaluation or review by remote stakeholders. Complex programs may still need an in-person visit and operational confirmation.
What should we send after a guided review?
Send a focused property experience, the relevant floorplans and collateral, a list of open questions and a named next step.
About this guide
Prepared by FOH Digital. Working examples are illustrative. Product descriptions reflect the reviewed scope; external sources are linked below.