Assisted living and nursing home care are not the same thing.
Yes, apples to filet mignon comparison, imho. For folks who want different independent living options, there are quite a few to choose among. For folks who need increasing levels of assistance, there are far fewer options.
It is likely that most people see the prospect of needing dementia care or nursing care to be horrifying, regardless of the actual quality of such care that may be available to them.
Actually, the care being provided is often not what one might hope for either. The ones I’ve seen/heard about tend to have high turnover, low wages, workers who may not even communicate in the same language as the patient, and staff who are desperate to keep their workers, sometimes at the expense of patient care.
The idea of needing memory care is scary but especially if you’re aware the options once you need such care are rather grim.
I go away every year with my sister. There was a woman living at the ritz. Granted she had to have been a millionaire many times over. But she ate at the club lounge and had a gym and restaurants, etc. The staff actually felt sorry for her. She didn’t have family nearby. Last time I was there she had been moved to a nursing home.
Living alone in a hotel room is not my idea of community or how I’d ideally want to live. I can see why staff may pity a person living alone like that. Loved ones and community are important to many of that. Transient accommodations don’t foster long-term bonds.
The average Holiday Inn room I’ve been in has been small, not much more than a bed, a TV, and an uncomfortable chair. Very little storage, no kitchen (maybe a microwave and/or a mini-fridge), most hotel gyms are tiny and under-equipped.
Great, you get a free breakfast, and virtually every other meal you are eating out or getting room service. This gets tiresome and is usually unhealthy.
In the article he keeps saying “we”, implying he is married. So you 'd have two people in what is basically a studio apartment with no amenities and no storage. I wonder how his wife feels about it. 
No thanks.
At $60/night, or $1800/month, you can get a pretty decent apartment in most areas, and actually be able to cook a meal once in a while.
The extended stay places are more like actual apartments, but I think are generally a lot more than your average Holiday Inn. I also suspect that in many/most places, Holiday Inn costs more than $60/night.
For many/most, there would have to be considerable tossing of items and storage as well to be able to live in a studio or suite. I’m ok with traveling with less and having less for awhile but I do like having my “stuff” most of the time, including MY pots and pans and knives and H loves all his tools and yard stuff. We both like having our desktops with multiple monitors as well. Nice to have space to have guests over or whatever we fancy—dine in or go out.
Living in a hotel or other lodging sometimes is fine but not “home” to many.
Over 20 years ago our hospital seriously considered sending patients to the local hotel with the hospital providing nursing care. Considerably cheaper.
I know of several people who live in hotels. One at the Ritz Carlton. Another lives on a cruise ship.
Last year, DH and I spent 47 nights on the VIP floor of a Hilton in Dublin company-paid while he was working there with a fabulous free breakfast buffet or custom order every day, great amenities (like hotel laundry service), and a wonderful city to enjoy by our perfectly healthy selves. Around day 30, I was dying to leave that situation and return to a more normal life. No way would I choose that lifestyle at an even older stage of my life even if it were the Ritz.
I agree with everyone who has said that hotel/cruise ship living by those who do not currently require medical care cannot be compared to assisted living/nursing home/LTC situations. Absurd to conflate those.
Not to mention that internet access from a cruise ship is very expensive and very slow and wi-fi in a hotel isn’t secure.
Many people retire to countries with a more affordable cost of living and healthcare. And the medical tourism industry is big business. But articles about living in a Holiday Inn instead of a nursing home, because these are vastly different situations, seems like clickbait to me.