I never had this problem, but I did read about it, and I had friends who had it. One even came over and bought seven pairs of black Look cleats from me because he couldn't stand SPDs.

It seemed to me that the complaint of hot spot / pain / numbness/tingling right on top of the cleat had to be a concidence. The sole of a good road racing cycling shoe is so stiff that there was no way the pressure from the cleat could be transmitted through the sole to just that one spot. Surely, I believed, it had to be a problem with the construction of the inside of the shoe or the foot. But what?

Because only some cyclists had this problem, only a small fraction of all of the users, it could have been that there was something peculiar about the feet of the cyclists that had the problem, perhaps reduced musculature on the bottom of the foot (which would provide less padding for the bones), or perhaps it was a defect in the shoes to which they were particularly sensitive, i.e., insufficiently thick insoles that again, would not provide sufficient padding. The other two possibilities were insufficient width that bowed the metatarsals on the middle of the ball of the foot downward and put excessive pressure on that spot right above the cleat, or excessive dorsiflexion (toes bent upward toward top of foot) caused by the shape of the sole, that put the feet of some people in a position to which they were sensitive, which caused them to report the "hot foot."

The incidence of this problem did drop after a few years, by which I mean that I don't hear about it anymore. For that reason I am inclined to blame some feature of the shoes.

You have guessed that your problem might be width. If that has turned out to be correct, I think that some kind of Sidis will be very good for you, either the normal width or the Mega width. If you look to see what good cyclists with adequate incomes wear and keep wearing, it's Sidis. They are practically the default shoe for people who have a choice who prefer functional and reliable equipment.

I prefer the ratchet ski buckle over any velcro strap. Velcro is only intended to last for two hundred fasten/unfasten cycles, and cycling shoes are a poor application for velcro in the first place. Remember, it is a "hook and loop" fastener. Slightly worn velcro always backs up to the limit of the extension of the loops, so after you fasten your shoes you will lose 1/8"-3/16" of the slack you took up.