Was going to write the same thing. The Plus is perfect for hotspot. Another thing is Instant Hotspot in iOS 8 makes it less of a chore.
Although those of us with a Plus are less likely to also pull out the big iPad on the go. For me it's more to be used at home for browsing on the couch, drawing, editing photos and watching a show before bed, and for work it's at meetings that already have WiFi. For travel, waiting in lines, running around campus and everything in between my Plus is perfect as I'm not doing extended reading or playing some involved AAA gaming title. But even if I was the Plus is no slouch. It's much more comfortable to read on than any iPhone before. They're just two different classes of device. If you don't have a Plus and carry your iPad with you everywhere for a variety of tasks, a Mini is probably better unless you do advanced photo and video editing or are a tab whore.