Virtualization setup planning Hyper-v, VMWare workstation

Greetings,

I am looking for advice based on experience and personal preferences.

I need to setup a Server that will run an instance of  2012 R2 Server and 4  Virtual  workstations.

Realizing there are multiple configuration options I would like to know what others believe to be the best option based on creating a reliable and easy to maintain configuration.

I need to end up with:
1 Server 2012 R2 instance which will run 2 Applications (1 = accounting app, the other SQL based program) and can be physical or Virtual.
4 Windows 7 Pro virtual machines to be used as primary workstations for remote users using a VPN/RDP solution.
I prefer to automate the backup of the Virtual Machines nightly.

I have in mind these options but again, would like to know what others have configured:

1) Physical Server 2012 R2 to run the 2 applications AND host Hyper-v to manage the 4 Win7 Pro VM's.

2) Physical Server 2012 R2 to run the 2 applications AND Host VMware workstation to manage the 4 Win7 Pro VM's.

3) Hyper-V core install on the Physical Server to Host the Server 2012 R2 Application Server AND manage the 4 Win7 Pro VM's as well as a physical (or virtual?) instance of Win8 Pro or Win10 Pro to remote manage the hyper-v hypervisor.