Yes, you essentially build the entire room as if it were a shower. Floors, walls, all get waterproofing and the entire floor system gets sloped.

Actually, we would generally run the waterproofing throughout bath floor and up 3-6" on bath walls, but every situation is different. Local codes also come into play. 36" is generally considered the minimum length for curbless. Ability to achieve proper slope is critical. Choice of tile can come into play for ease of slope. The attached article is a good overview. The TCNA 2018-19 Handbook is also a good reference. Hopefully your tile contractor is familiar. Specifically they should reference guideline B421C-18. Regarding waterproofing, the guidelines indicate "..also the floor and wall waterproofing must continue outside the immediate shower area one foot beyond the high point of the floor, but not beyond the tiled area. Additional waterproofing of floor and/or walls outside the shower area may be needed to effectively contain and evacuate shower water and splash ...When additional waterproofing of floor and/or walls outside the shower area is desired or required, the building design professional must specify all areas to be waterproofed and indicated membrane termination points". It also references the use of a secondary drain outside the shower area "when required or desired". Something to consider.

https://ctasc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/CurblessShowerArticleTileLetterMarch2016.pdf

Here is another reference which was just published in our March industry publication:

http://tileletter.com/2019/03/critical-planning-for-curbless-shower-success/

"Many of the experts on here said that if a curbless shower space won't allow for a 2" slope from the curb to the drain"

100% not true.

There is NO 2" drama to be scared of.

My curbless shower is 37.5" x 62.5" BUT it has a trench drain in the prefab shower pan. My shower pan slopes to the outside edge of the shower because mine is made to be wheelchair accessible.

My room floor IS a shower. My contractor bought a Kerdi sloping floor and then waterproofed it with Kerdi, too, up to 5" up the tiled walls. So my bathroom tiled walls are not completely waterproofed, just behind the baseboards. In the picture below, the square in the floor is the drain in the floor, covered with a tiled cover. The room slopes up from the door sill, reaches an apex, and then slopes down on all sides to that drain in the floor. The room floor is 8.5 x 5 ft. The slope is noticeable, but has not tripped anybody.

If you are going to have a single drain, small enough to be covered by a washcloth or a person who has fallen, and not a trench drain, I would absolutely have a floor drain. It is so easy to forget and make some error and flood the whole house. I dumped a bucket of rinse water, forgetting that there were no walls, and it washed up against the back wall and bounced back and washed over the trench drain at the front of the shower. Water all over the floor. Not having a tub or curb is going to be something to get used to!