This. As the owner of a full-body aluminium convertible chromebook, I'd concur: The point about "losing the keyboard" doesn't apply per se, if you're talking about the right Chromebook model. The Asus C100P for example makes a good tablet and its laptop-experience has never been matched with any iPad-keyboard I've seen so far.
On the other hand, a Chromebook's problem (for now) regarding the "tablet mode" lies in the ChromeOS GUI: It wasn't designed with touch screens in mind (especially the browser itself) and feels clunkier than other tablet controls. Google are on their way to remedy that through their integration of Android apps though. They're certainly not there yet, but I can imagine that changing in the forseeable future.
On the other hand, a Chromebook's problem (for now) regarding the "tablet mode" lies in the ChromeOS GUI: It wasn't designed with touch screens in mind (especially the browser itself) and feels clunkier than other tablet controls. Google are on their way to remedy that through their integration of Android apps though. They're certainly not there yet, but I can imagine that changing in the forseeable future.