Connect multiple APs by wire, and configure APs on non-overlapping channels (i.e., 1, 6, 11, in the US) is always best.
However, if there is no feasible way to connect by wire, WDS works great. Just keep in mind you'll get half the bandwidth since the radio will split the time between AP mode serving clients, and WDS mode serving the backhaul. So use the 802.11ac radios (NetMetal 5) where you have triple-chain, three-stream (up to 1.3 Gbps, depending on environment) if budget allows.
Another approach is to use dual-radio devices (such as NetBox and NetMetal) so you can configure one radio dedicated to AP mode serving stations, and the other radio dedicated to the WDS (or even better, nv2 protocol).
To be clear, nv2 protocol will give you much better backhaul performance over 802.11, but you can't share it--it's for point-to-point only. So you would need two radios to use nv2 for your application; one to serve the backhaul and one to serve the stations. The WDS mode allows sharing with standard 802.11, but you only get half the bandwidth as I wrote above.
There are many options available. The best option depends on your budget, as usual.