I was taught, and It has always been my belief that the first consideration of hive orientation is the prevailing winds. You want to turn the back of the hives to the wind so it wont be constantly blowing into the front entrance. In practising this, all hives will face the same direction. This might not factor in, in an apiary that is gets moved through out the year, but is certainly important for a permanent site.
As for the original question, I believe Mr Bush's response and the suggestion to stagger are correct. How you work your hive should also come in to consideration. I have the room so I use the "one row method" and have almost exclusively. First i rarely ware any protective clothing well working my bees. With a single row I can avoid being in front of the hives, out of the flight path and not raise the interest of the entrance guards. Secondly, during harvest i can drop the fence along the back of the row and have unhindered access to all colonies. I back the tractor up close and set up the blowing station near by . for me, this works best. double rows or scattered hives would require walking around one row, or taking down more fence or some other hindrances.
The bottom line is play around and find out what works best for you.