I've met two sets of people who have had to do this very thing in recent weeks and months.  A couple with a small child who lived at a hotel for several weeks before the money ran out and they would have ended up on the street if a kindly widower hadn't invited them to live with him.  Another, older couple living on his job and her disability income.  His job disappeared four months ago and he hasn't been able to find another one.  They were evicted from their apartment at the end of February.  They lived in a run-down hotel the next town over for a week before managing to move into a room that someone was renting in their house.  But that situation is far from ideal as well.

There are organizations that work specifically with people and families for whom a hotel room is their home.  Unfortunately, that number is growing, at least here in Southern California where even renting a 10x10 room in someone's house is likely to set you back at least $500 a month.