does make hot coffee. the design could be a little better as far as the location of the water reservoir. all seems to work. the single serve side needs a measuring cup or something else w/a pour spout to fill it; trying to just fill the cup and then pour from it into it ends up w/a lot of water spilling on the counter.  I've only had it a few days, but seems to work for my purposes.  I cannot really tell any difference in the coffee on the regular and bold settings.  I have not tried it with the pods.