I don't think anything that you have to clean is "hastle free."
On the cooling scale, I'd rate the various methods as follows:
1) Overnight cooling - Hastle free, debatable santitation and off flavor downsides
2) Ice bath - most hastle, IMO, moderately efficient
2) Immersion Chiller - Low hastle, moderately efficient cooling
3) Counter flow chiller - medium hastle when it comes to cleaning, 2nd most efficient
4) Plate chiller - medium hastle when it comes to cleaning, most efficient cooling
SO, it is all give and take. I personally have a 30 plate chiller that I gravity feed, and have never had a problem with clogging using pellet hops. It takes me about 5 minutes during brewday and 5 minutes after brewday to clean and sanatize it. Given that I can cool 5 gallons of wort to about 75 in 12-13 minutes, I could care less about the hastle of 10 minutes of cleaning.