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Just about no one relishes the idea of spending their final years in a nursing home. And the thought that you or your loved ones will have to fork over an immense amount of money to do so makes it a painful double whammy.
So plenty of folks related to the outrage that led Terry Robison to post on Facebook about the cost of nursing homes, saying out how much cheaper it would be to live in a Holiday Inn. The post has since gone viral.
In his post, Robison claims that the average cost of a nursing care facility is $188 per day. (The latest Genworth Cost of Care survey puts the national average for a semi-private room at $245.) He figures that a long-term Holiday Inn stay with a senior discount, on the other hand, is only $59.23 per day, leaving him a daily allowance of $128.77 for everything else.
Plus, Robison says, the Holiday Inn comes with plenty of perks. Need a shuttle to the airport? They’ve got one. When it comes to housekeeping and room maintenance, you’re set. A workout room and free breakfast? Check and check. Fancy a move or a change of scenery? There are Holiday Inns across the country, even in tropical Hawaii. And the grandkids will love the pool.
While Robison’s point about the high cost of care is well-taken, it should hardly need to be said that it doesn’t actually make sense to trade a nursing staff for room service and an airport shuttle.
As others have pointed out, hotels are hardly qualified to provide individual, specialized care around the clock. If you need to enter a nursing home, chances are you will require far more assistance than any hotel can provide. “Housekeeping is not going to change your adult diaper or make sure you take your medications three times a day,” notes Elizabeth O’Brien at Money.com.
As for Robison, is he actually planning to try out his own idea and check himself and his wife into a Holiday Inn during their later years? It’s unclear—on his post, Robison only promises that “When I reach that golden age, I’ll face it with a grin.”
