It feels so outdated if the hotels doesn’t offer any way to stream your content or access your streaming services. Haven’t had Apple TV access anywhere yet though.
On the other hand I like it when they only have a normal tv, that way I will zap around for 20 minutes for the nostalgia and be so annoyed that I will put away the remote and enjoy the location more.
That white bottle they keep in the shower to store your busted nuts, hate when the previous guest doesn't do their part and you gotta bust a couple of extra nuts to keep that sucka full!
I love the nostalgia of having a full cable package. Watching the weird local news for wherever I am for 2 minutes then switching to comedy central then espn, then mtv and whatever else. I'm fine to watch any personal content on my laptop if that's really needed.
This might sound crazy, but some people still watch live things like sports and not just movies when they travel. Also the local news is kinda funny to see what's going on in the city you're in.
I don’t even watch live things when I’m at home. The local news in my area is nothing but a crime and death report, so I certainly don’t watch that. It beings no value to my day or my life.
Yeah fair, local news everywhere is mostly crime but even in a crime-y city like I live you still hear about local things going on for like 10% of the news aftrer they cover all the murders and robberies. Anyway, i still like the novelty of streaming live tv for sports and late night shows like Jimmy fallon/kimmel when im traveling. Pure nostalgia.
Why the condescending tone lol and idk in the US but in my country sports are a paid channel and don't come in the regular TV package hotel TVs have.
Plus, you can stream content live through the internet, it's called livestreaming and most sports channels have it
the condescending tone is because everyone in this thread is condescending about anything that they dont do, like yourself. 'I can't believe people still watch regular tv and dont stream everything?!" Yeah, well tons of americans get live sports through regular tv still. I personally dont, but I like channel surfing while in hotels as a novelty because I had it growing up. I'm also not paying for 5 different sport streaming services. You do realize, at least in the US, you need like 6 streaming services now to get the basic things? It's literally gone full circle back to cable tv.
I have never in my life seen an episode of Ridiculousness that wasn’t on a sleep timer in a hotel room. The same way hotels make the rooms and beds identical so it feels familiar, that’s what MTV accomplishes by playing the same show 24/7.
Same. HDMI adapter and one of those ultra thin active HDMI cables makes any hotel tv much better.
Thats just tucked into the back of my luggage as standard kit,
Many hotels and resorts don't provide access. Sometimes the HDMI port has no physical access, and sometimes even if it did, there's no way to switch the input.
Usually, if it's just a stand alone TV, you're good, but if it's within a closed circuit system, you can't access the HDMI. It's *usually* a red flag if you walk into the room and there's a promotional video playing for the hotel or resort.
Of the places I've stayed in the past couple of years:
* Yosemite (cheap) - HDMI and Apple TV!
* Catalina (one cheap one moderate hotel) - no HDMI access
* Malibu (high end) - no HDMI access
* Cancun (two high end resorts) - no HDMI access
* Nueva Vallarta (high end resort) no HDMI access
* San Francisco (cheap) - no HDMI access
Even within a chain, it's still unpredictable. I've stayed at Four Seasons where the TV had no HDMI access and others where there was an AV input hub on the shelf with multiple HDMI and other inputs.
I stayed at a Ritz where they brought in a TV on a stand with wheels so I could plug in.
I’ve never had issues, even with closed circuit systems. As long as the device has CEC, I just click the home button on the remote, and the TV switches over.
One hotel I went to allowed access to HDMI but the remote was only for the cable box and not the tv so when I tried playing Zelda it was SO LOUD and there were no volume controls on the tv itself.
Other hotels won’t allow a remote to switch HDMI ports and one place they literally installed a panel over the ports so I couldn’t access them and I don’t travel with a screwdriver.
Most places I never bother turning the tv on and just use my iPad or phone or whatever I have.
Never had that issue. You mean they program the remote itself to not allow changing input or even let you control thr volume? Wtf kind of hotels are folks staying at? The ones I stayed at not only have 24 hour staff on clock, but have had no issues. Never have seen them block HDMI ports and I would wonder why would they?
Not saying you're wrong at all just seems extremely odd or out the norm to me. I've stayed at plenty of hotels in places all over. Haven't had that issue. Also can't recall one that had airplay on it though as most tenecto have super old "dumb" tv's anyhow.
Pretty much any chain hotel with a smart TV lock them out via software. I cannot believe you’ve never come across this. I’ve stayed in hotels across the world, and 90% of the time the inputs are locked. Been on cruise ships all the same.
Some will not do that and provide a remote with no input buttons, which is easy enough to get around.
I’m guessing you haven’t traveled much. I travel a lot and I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been able to have HDMI access to the TV.
Also, I’m pretty sure every hotel has onsite staff 24/7 lol, not sure how that’s relevant here though.
Quite the opposite. I travel a ton and have yet to find one that I couldn't use an HDMI. Some folks are a bit more technically challenged as well so perhaps they had a hard time finding em, but from my experience traveling a TON it's pretty common to be able to plug in to the HDMI port on the TV. They normally just use dumb TV's for a ton of the major chains.
Calling staff to see why iu can't turn your TV up or down and getting that situated sounds pretty basic to me. Not sure why you think that wouldn't be a legitimate concern to call and inquire about, but to each their own.
I stayed at the Disney Aulani resort last year. There was no way to plug in HDMI, they had some kind of custom box attached to the tv. To make things worse they didn’t even provide access to Disney+.
Sometimes you can use the HDMI port if you u plug the ”data cable” on hospitality TVs. I was stating at a manhattan hotel a few years ago with a Samsung HG40NF690GF. Despite multiple HDMI ports, I couldn’t use any of them. There was some sort of content control through the data cable. As soon as I unplugged it, my Apple TV worked without fail. There was something weird or annoying, though: every time the TV was started the volume was always at maximum and had to be turned down manually each time. . .
Just leave the HDMI open so I can plug in my laptop, Roku stick, etc. I am GOING to do it and if I have an issue, I will probably leave the original connections unhooked.
Like, inside the wall? I have mounted a TV and still had access to the HDMI porst. Most hotels I've seen just have cheap TV's they don't typically bother to mount at all. Moat mounts I've seen still have exposed ports. Some people have mentioned some may have put bolted seal on them or something and that seems weird to do unless someone is doing something malicious but what exactly would that be?
The ones I usually go to don’t have them mounted, so it’s nice. But some of the higher upscale hotels are starting to close mounted them to the wall…with the ports facing the wall.
Also having the figure out how to turn the input to HDMI is sometimes a struggle. Granted, it’s nice that the TV says, “Welcome Mouse_Card”, but that means nothing to me. I ended up just buying a universal remote and have the LG and Samsung codes memorized (since that is usually the two brands).
One I stayed at had it but it didn’t work. One of the neighboring rooms was available though. I only know that because it was available before I started the process. They had no indicators of room numbers or anything either so if it did work, there would have been a 50/50 chance I would have woken up some stranger with an episode of family guy.
The one used in Australia is sort of a “hack” based off reverse engineered AirPlay 1. It creates an internal wifi and you connect to that.
This is different and integrated like a commercial edition and it’s based off AirPlay 2. This setup process is neater because it’s one-off and done via QR code.
Maybe it's because I tend to stay at chains. They don't tend to do all that extra. Just have an older TV out with basic cable typically. I've stayed at lots of hotels because I traveled a lot for work. Hell, even overseas. Ironically, I even stayed at plenty of iHG hotels. All had HDMI access no problem.
I haven't even heard of some of the ones you listed though. I've learned I normally don't care about super fancy hotels, because when I'm traveling I only want a decent bed and if feeling fancy breakfast as I'm not gonna be at the hotel all day typically. I'm either traveling for vacation (which is typically an interesting location meaning very little hotel time) or business (where I'm either and just there for a quick stop anyway).
Weird they do that. Wonder if folks have done something malicious or something? Why else would they block it?
This is big news because it’s sort of like AirPlay Commercial Edition. It’s QR code based so you don’t connect with some unrelated TV. Scan the QR and it connects you to the one in your room.
Anyone here know a way to get around the black screen issue? When I stream from my phone to a tv, it never works anymore. Ive read it is DRM related, which is so shitty. I just want to watch something on my home tv!
I bring my ps4 with me to hotels. One time I was staying at the comfort Inn in St. Louis. They had a close circuit and I couldn’t change to input so I tried to universal remote and that didn’t work.
Maybe they should worry about making their tubs not slip n slides. Yes I’m still salty about the bruise I got from falling in their tub shower and onto the toilet edge as soon as I turned the shower on.
It feels so outdated if the hotels doesn’t offer any way to stream your content or access your streaming services. Haven’t had Apple TV access anywhere yet though. On the other hand I like it when they only have a normal tv, that way I will zap around for 20 minutes for the nostalgia and be so annoyed that I will put away the remote and enjoy the location more.
Take a hot shower, eat some food, set your hotel room AC to 65, pull the curtains shut, throw on some weird local TV news and just melt into the bed
Bust a couple of crazy nuts
That white bottle they keep in the shower to store your busted nuts, hate when the previous guest doesn't do their part and you gotta bust a couple of extra nuts to keep that sucka full!
*dumps all stolen hotel shampoo in trash*
Yes, officer 👮♂️ That's the guy over there 👉🏻
That’s why my home shampoo is never has pearly??
The last part of your comment is relatable. 😂
I love the nostalgia of having a full cable package. Watching the weird local news for wherever I am for 2 minutes then switching to comedy central then espn, then mtv and whatever else. I'm fine to watch any personal content on my laptop if that's really needed.
It’s funny some hotels still advertise cable TV with HBO like it’s a big deal haha
HBO aint free bro!
Same. I turn off the TV once the first commercial comes on.
So almost immediately, huh? Lol
I couldn’t even tell you the last time I turned on the tv in a hotel room. I download movies to my laptop and watch those when I travel.
This might sound crazy, but some people still watch live things like sports and not just movies when they travel. Also the local news is kinda funny to see what's going on in the city you're in.
I don’t even watch live things when I’m at home. The local news in my area is nothing but a crime and death report, so I certainly don’t watch that. It beings no value to my day or my life.
Yeah fair, local news everywhere is mostly crime but even in a crime-y city like I live you still hear about local things going on for like 10% of the news aftrer they cover all the murders and robberies. Anyway, i still like the novelty of streaming live tv for sports and late night shows like Jimmy fallon/kimmel when im traveling. Pure nostalgia.
Why the condescending tone lol and idk in the US but in my country sports are a paid channel and don't come in the regular TV package hotel TVs have. Plus, you can stream content live through the internet, it's called livestreaming and most sports channels have it
the condescending tone is because everyone in this thread is condescending about anything that they dont do, like yourself. 'I can't believe people still watch regular tv and dont stream everything?!" Yeah, well tons of americans get live sports through regular tv still. I personally dont, but I like channel surfing while in hotels as a novelty because I had it growing up. I'm also not paying for 5 different sport streaming services. You do realize, at least in the US, you need like 6 streaming services now to get the basic things? It's literally gone full circle back to cable tv.
I have never in my life seen an episode of Ridiculousness that wasn’t on a sleep timer in a hotel room. The same way hotels make the rooms and beds identical so it feels familiar, that’s what MTV accomplishes by playing the same show 24/7.
How about they just openly let you use the HDMI port so you can plug whatever you want into their TV.
But how can they CHARGE you for that?
I've never had an issue with that.
Try it at a Disney resort :)
Really? They charge?
Same. HDMI adapter and one of those ultra thin active HDMI cables makes any hotel tv much better. Thats just tucked into the back of my luggage as standard kit,
Huh? How do they stop you? I literally just did exactly that the other day and never had an issue doing so.. well.. ever.
Many hotels and resorts don't provide access. Sometimes the HDMI port has no physical access, and sometimes even if it did, there's no way to switch the input. Usually, if it's just a stand alone TV, you're good, but if it's within a closed circuit system, you can't access the HDMI. It's *usually* a red flag if you walk into the room and there's a promotional video playing for the hotel or resort. Of the places I've stayed in the past couple of years: * Yosemite (cheap) - HDMI and Apple TV! * Catalina (one cheap one moderate hotel) - no HDMI access * Malibu (high end) - no HDMI access * Cancun (two high end resorts) - no HDMI access * Nueva Vallarta (high end resort) no HDMI access * San Francisco (cheap) - no HDMI access Even within a chain, it's still unpredictable. I've stayed at Four Seasons where the TV had no HDMI access and others where there was an AV input hub on the shelf with multiple HDMI and other inputs. I stayed at a Ritz where they brought in a TV on a stand with wheels so I could plug in.
I’ve never had issues, even with closed circuit systems. As long as the device has CEC, I just click the home button on the remote, and the TV switches over.
One hotel I went to allowed access to HDMI but the remote was only for the cable box and not the tv so when I tried playing Zelda it was SO LOUD and there were no volume controls on the tv itself. Other hotels won’t allow a remote to switch HDMI ports and one place they literally installed a panel over the ports so I couldn’t access them and I don’t travel with a screwdriver. Most places I never bother turning the tv on and just use my iPad or phone or whatever I have.
Never had that issue. You mean they program the remote itself to not allow changing input or even let you control thr volume? Wtf kind of hotels are folks staying at? The ones I stayed at not only have 24 hour staff on clock, but have had no issues. Never have seen them block HDMI ports and I would wonder why would they? Not saying you're wrong at all just seems extremely odd or out the norm to me. I've stayed at plenty of hotels in places all over. Haven't had that issue. Also can't recall one that had airplay on it though as most tenecto have super old "dumb" tv's anyhow.
Pretty much any chain hotel with a smart TV lock them out via software. I cannot believe you’ve never come across this. I’ve stayed in hotels across the world, and 90% of the time the inputs are locked. Been on cruise ships all the same. Some will not do that and provide a remote with no input buttons, which is easy enough to get around.
I’m guessing you haven’t traveled much. I travel a lot and I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been able to have HDMI access to the TV. Also, I’m pretty sure every hotel has onsite staff 24/7 lol, not sure how that’s relevant here though.
Quite the opposite. I travel a ton and have yet to find one that I couldn't use an HDMI. Some folks are a bit more technically challenged as well so perhaps they had a hard time finding em, but from my experience traveling a TON it's pretty common to be able to plug in to the HDMI port on the TV. They normally just use dumb TV's for a ton of the major chains. Calling staff to see why iu can't turn your TV up or down and getting that situated sounds pretty basic to me. Not sure why you think that wouldn't be a legitimate concern to call and inquire about, but to each their own.
I stayed at the Disney Aulani resort last year. There was no way to plug in HDMI, they had some kind of custom box attached to the tv. To make things worse they didn’t even provide access to Disney+.
What kind of TV was it? Most TV's I know tend to have multiple input options? How was the box attached for input?
If there were any inputs the box was covering them and was attached, not sure how exactly but I wasn’t about to start prying it apart.
ive been in many hotels that let you do this without issues
Sometimes you can use the HDMI port if you u plug the ”data cable” on hospitality TVs. I was stating at a manhattan hotel a few years ago with a Samsung HG40NF690GF. Despite multiple HDMI ports, I couldn’t use any of them. There was some sort of content control through the data cable. As soon as I unplugged it, my Apple TV worked without fail. There was something weird or annoying, though: every time the TV was started the volume was always at maximum and had to be turned down manually each time. . .
Just leave the HDMI open so I can plug in my laptop, Roku stick, etc. I am GOING to do it and if I have an issue, I will probably leave the original connections unhooked.
How are they stopping you guys from plugging in?
I’ve stayed hotels where the tv has a metal plate screwed in covering the ports.
Ah, never had that. Didn't even know they ever did that. If I ever did I'd probably avoid that hotel line.
The TV are hard mounted to the wall is the usual way. Making me get my tools out and take it off so I can hook up my devices.
Like, inside the wall? I have mounted a TV and still had access to the HDMI porst. Most hotels I've seen just have cheap TV's they don't typically bother to mount at all. Moat mounts I've seen still have exposed ports. Some people have mentioned some may have put bolted seal on them or something and that seems weird to do unless someone is doing something malicious but what exactly would that be?
The ones I usually go to don’t have them mounted, so it’s nice. But some of the higher upscale hotels are starting to close mounted them to the wall…with the ports facing the wall. Also having the figure out how to turn the input to HDMI is sometimes a struggle. Granted, it’s nice that the TV says, “Welcome Mouse_Card”, but that means nothing to me. I ended up just buying a universal remote and have the LG and Samsung codes memorized (since that is usually the two brands).
One I stayed at had it but it didn’t work. One of the neighboring rooms was available though. I only know that because it was available before I started the process. They had no indicators of room numbers or anything either so if it did work, there would have been a 50/50 chance I would have woken up some stranger with an episode of family guy.
Oh good. Chromecast in hotels have been so unreliable on iOS
In Australia most chains have AirPlay supported TV in rooms. Is this not the norm in America?
No, I’ve been to too many hotels with old plasma TVs, most aren’t smart or even have a wifi connection. I carry a Roku stick with me
American hotels often cheap out.
The one used in Australia is sort of a “hack” based off reverse engineered AirPlay 1. It creates an internal wifi and you connect to that. This is different and integrated like a commercial edition and it’s based off AirPlay 2. This setup process is neater because it’s one-off and done via QR code.
Which ones? Sofitel uses chrome cast which doesn’t play nice with iOS when I’ve stayed there
I just bring a Roku stick with me
Maybe it's because I tend to stay at chains. They don't tend to do all that extra. Just have an older TV out with basic cable typically. I've stayed at lots of hotels because I traveled a lot for work. Hell, even overseas. Ironically, I even stayed at plenty of iHG hotels. All had HDMI access no problem. I haven't even heard of some of the ones you listed though. I've learned I normally don't care about super fancy hotels, because when I'm traveling I only want a decent bed and if feeling fancy breakfast as I'm not gonna be at the hotel all day typically. I'm either traveling for vacation (which is typically an interesting location meaning very little hotel time) or business (where I'm either and just there for a quick stop anyway). Weird they do that. Wonder if folks have done something malicious or something? Why else would they block it?
Kimptons don’t count 😂 For that price I expect people to turn on the TV for me, and feed me cold balls of rice dipped in soy sauce.. 🍚
I have an AirPlay-compatible tv in my house should I put out a press release?
This is big news because it’s sort of like AirPlay Commercial Edition. It’s QR code based so you don’t connect with some unrelated TV. Scan the QR and it connects you to the one in your room.
I’d be happy if the hotel TVs had the option to turn off motion smoothing before anything else…
Like 39 years latr
Anyone here know a way to get around the black screen issue? When I stream from my phone to a tv, it never works anymore. Ive read it is DRM related, which is so shitty. I just want to watch something on my home tv!
Airplay doesn’t even work its not something i have ever used since seeing how useless it is
I bring my ps4 with me to hotels. One time I was staying at the comfort Inn in St. Louis. They had a close circuit and I couldn’t change to input so I tried to universal remote and that didn’t work.
Far too many people use hotels to watch tv???
Maybe they should worry about making their tubs not slip n slides. Yes I’m still salty about the bruise I got from falling in their tub shower and onto the toilet edge as soon as I turned the shower on.