For this retiree, living the golden years at a Holiday Inn is an awesome idea, rather than spending them at a nursing home.
The man shared his plan for his retirement on social media and it went viral-however, not everyone agrees with his ideas.
Some experts believe seniors won’t be able to find solace in this way of life.
The senior with this unusual plan, Terry Robison, wrote on his Facebook that he doesn’t want a nursing home and will be checking into a Holiday Inn.
The 64-year-old resident of a Houston suburb wrote that with the average cost of a nursing care home being $188 per a day, there’s a better way when they get old and feeble.
He also added that he already made reservations at the Holiday Inn. It’s $59.23 per night with a long-term stay discount and discount for seniors.
He also has breakfast included and happy hours in the afternoon-this doesn’t seem like a bad deal.
But, the Situation Is Different in Reality, Say Gerontology Experts
Unfortunately, this idea encourages misconceptions about the real needs of the elderly, according to senior living experts, even as a lot of seniors today are unable to pay for assisted care.
Caroline Cicero, an associate professor of gerontology at the Southern California University said that this is only a notion based on the idea that you have nothing else to do but just check in and out of a hotel.
But, this isn’t the reality, explains Cicero. She emphasizes the need of a sense of purpose for seniors and added many of them spend time volunteering, working, doing art or caring for grandchildren.
On the other hand, hotel living is quite impractical, she believes, particularly for the physically disabled ones who need help with basic daily activities like showering and getting dressed.
At least a decade ago, said Cicero, before the era of social media, there were people who shared a plan for retiring in a hotel in chain emails.
Robinson himself edited a chain email he received a year ago and created his Facebook post. More than 100,000 people shared the idea.
He wanted to describe hotel living as a cheaper variant of independent living for the mentally and physically fit seniors, not a nursing home.
Robison explained he wrote the post with humor and that he hopes people will appreciate it. Maybe, he opened up a certain degree of a debate and helped people vent.
Sources: