I disagree that you owe a face to face conversation. No one should forced to go meet someone if they don’t feel like it.
In the context of dating, if you get ghosted, consider that the person is not interested in you after all - and just move on. No big deal.
Maybe in your country. Here in France AirBnB are both cheaper and the rooms are nicer than hotel. Some of them could be landlords and profit… but some others rent something that would not be fitting as a location (like a vacation flat or a subpart of a house) but is OK for staying just a couple of days.
So I disagree heavily with your generalisation