Texas couple plans to retire in a Holiday Inn rather than nursing home

New York Daily News, The (NY)

Feb. 26-- Feb. 26--A Texas couple did the math and they plan to spend their golden years at a hotel rather than a nursing home.

"No nursing home for us," Terry Robinson wrote on Facebook. "We'll be checking into a Holiday Inn!"

Robinson, along with his wife Renee, have found that a nursing home costs $188 a day. Seniorliving.com puts the national average at $229.

According to Robinson, after applying Holiday Inn's senior reduction and long-term stay discount, it will cost him $59.23 per night to live in one of the chain's 1,145 locations.

"Breakfast is included, and some have happy hours in the afternoon," he reasons. "That leaves $128.77 a day for lunch and dinner in any restaurant we want, or room service, laundry, gratuities and special TV movies."

According to Robinson, for an extra $5 a day in gratuities, he can be treated like a king by a staff that cleans daily and furnishes hotel guests with soap, shampoo, razors and toothpaste.

While Holiday Inn doesn't provide the same medial assistance as a nursing home, he says Holiday Inn employees will call an ambulance if anything goes wrong and Medicare will foot the bill.

On his Facebook page, Robinson frequently mocks socialist-leaning candidates Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He also lavishes praise on President Trump, whose family business operates a string of hotels.

For Robinson, hospitality is a perk in his retirement plan.

"They treat you like a customer, not a patient," he says of the hotel staff.

At least one retirement expert takes issue with Robinson's plan. Bill Comfort, who runs the insurance consortium Comfort Long Term Care, questions both Robinson's math and his reasoning.

"The idea totally confuses long-term CARE with 'independent living,'" Comfort told the Daily News via email. "No Holiday Inn -- nor even a Ritz Carlton -- will send a staff member to your room 2-3 times a night to make sure you safely get to and from the toilet and are adequately cleaned up, nor will housekeeping bathe and dress you."

Comfort blogged about a similar claim to Robinson's in 2016. He also said Robinson's argument has been made before, sometimes with aspiring retirees wondering if living on a cruise ship might be a prudent way to spend one's elder years. Comfort finds that idea silly for the same reason.

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