not is not "hard work" per say, but I can't leave the room during a water change.
Draining is the difficult part.
My tank is sub grade (the tank is lower than the drain) so the water has to work uphill. If you plan it correctly from the beginning you'll be happy with the end results.
Just tossing a tank anywhere in your home and saying "it looks nice there" is ok... but you have to plan out EVERYTHING before filling it especially larger tanks. Even shuffling smaller tanks is a PITA.
Do it right from the start.