Guess it depends on the attractiveness and demeanor of the man who says it.
Seriously though, to use myself as an example, I generally say "hot" to describe a woman's outward appearance and "beautiful" to describe her personality when combined with her appearance. And I always say that if a woman has a good heart, that just makes her outward appearance even better.
For instance, there are some women in my life I would not hesitate to call "beautiful", although they don't necessarily qualify as "supermodel" types. Most of them have the "girl next door" look.