While booking a room at a favorite destination for the weekend can be a welcome retreat, you may be disappointed to learn many hotels only offer basic cable for guests. This leaves many of us without access to our treasured Netflix or Hulu subscription. Fortunately, if you already are a Google Chromecast or a Chromecast with Google TV user, you can overcome this shortcoming pretty easily and connect your Chromecast to a hotel TV. Remember to pack your Chromecast in your luggage! Here's how you can start streaming while away from home.
Connect the Chromecast to the TV
This first step is critical. The TV in your hotel room has to have an open HDMI port that you can access (many of them don't). Otherwise, it's game over. While you're looking, take note to see if there's already an HDMI cable plugged into the TV. If there is, you might need to unplug it in one of the next steps. Once a free port has been found, plug your Chromecast in.
Step 1: Check the sides of the TV, or if you can access it, around the back. The inputs should be clearly labeled as HDMI 1, HDMI 2, etc.
Step 2: Plug your Chromecast into the HDMI port. It doesn't really matter which one — just make a note of whether it's HDMI 1, HDMI 2, etc.
Step 3: Plug the power cable into your Chromecast and the other end into the wall plug. (It's possible the TV's USB port may work to power the Chromecast. It may not if it doesn't provide the Chromecast enough juice, so it is best to use a wall plug if possible.)
Pro tip: Bring an extra-long USB power cable in case there isn't a free wall outlet near the TV.
Step 4: Change the input on the TV to match the one you plugged the Chromecast into. (You remembered to remember, right? HDMI 1, HDMI 2, etc.)
If you're successful, you should see the default Chromecast setup screen. If you can't find an open HDMI port, try the next step.
If there is no open HDMI port
If there isn't a free HDMI port or you have trouble switching inputs (maybe because the TV simply won't allow it), it's time to try plan B. If you found a cable already plugged into an HDMI port in step 1, unplug it, and swap in your Chromecast. Of course, this means you'll lose your hotel TV channels, but you can always swap it back once you've finished bingeing Stranger Things.
Keep in mind that many hotel chains will purchase HDTVs that are connected to the hotel's own media servers. In many cases, this means that the HDMI ports on the TV may be locked.
So even if there are one or two ports available to connect your Chromecast into, the inputs themselves may not work. If you run into this issue, there's a quick workaround you can try.
Look at the back of the TV. If you see a cable that looks like an Ethernet wire connected to the TV, go ahead and disconnect it. This is the data stream wire (or RJ11 cable) that the hotel uses to deliver cable streams to each TV. Once this wire is disconnected, you should be able to use the TV's HDMI inputs.
