Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video

Want to watch TV in your hotel? Better bring your phone

By

If you haven’t stayed in a hotel recently — you know, because of a global pandemic — you might not be aware of a big change that is happening to hotel TVs: Physical remotes are going away. In their place, guests are expected to use their smartphones, which can display a set of virtual remote buttons, similar to the companion apps offered by Roku, Apple, and Google for their streaming media devices and smart TVs.

Digital Trends’ A/V editor Phil Nickinson discovered this for himself recently upon arriving at a hotel in Florida, where his room TV informed him that he needed to scan a QR code in order to take control of the TV using his phone.

Recommended Videos

https://twitter.com/philnickinson/status/1469115917372203011

Related: 
Best new movies to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, HBO Max, and more

Why the change? Our nearly two-year-long battle with COVID-19 has prompted many hotel chains to rethink the wisdom of having a device in their rooms that nearly every guest will touch, and which can prove difficult to adequately disinfect. This isn’t a new reality. Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, many studies showed that certain areas of a hotel room can be hotbeds for bacteria and viruses, like desks, bathroom counters, and TV remotes.

In 2012, a team from the University of Houston, Purdue University, and the University of South Carolina sampled contamination levels in nine hotel rooms, three each in Texas, Indiana, and South Carolina. The samples showed that of all items we typically come in contact with during our stays, the TV remote was one of the dirtiest. Another study cited by A/V Magazine found that hotel remotes contain “up to 2,000% more bacteria and yeast than a toilet seat.”

The new virtual remotes are showing up on a variety of hotel-based TV systems. BeyondTV MyRemote is one of these systems, and you may also encounter similar versions from Otrum or Philips. Most use a web-based platform that doesn’t need an app to be downloaded and installed — only a web browser and a data connection. There’s also usually no need to connect to a hotel’s own Wi-Fi network.

If all of this has you questioning whether you even want to use your hotel’s built-in TV offerings, here are some great alternatives:

Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen
Contributing Editor, A/V
Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends' Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…
Topics

Editors’ Recommendations

Apple’s iPhone 12 probably has better picture quality than your TV
iPhone 12 composite

 

It may have a much smaller screen, but there's a very good chance that the iPhone 12 is capable of better picture quality than the TV in your living room.

Read more
One of the best TVs ever made is below $2,000, and comes with expert delivery
Panasonic Z95A

When you look through our current list of the best TVs, there are exactly two TVs that should stand out to you, even if you're a casual skimmer. The first is the Sony A95L QD-OLED, simply because it is at the top of the list. The second is the Panasonic Z95A, not because it's the runner-up (which it is) but because it's... Panasonic. It's just not a brand we see making winning TVs, but wow, what a winner the Z95A is. We immediately called it one of the best TVs ever made, something that will be apparent to your eyes if you get it. Now, what's exciting about this TV right now is that it has a low price. You can get the 65-inch version of the TV for $1,998 right now, a savings of over $1,200 off its usual $3,200 price point. You can even get a deluxe delivery and unpack for free if you select the right option on the sales page (accessible by tapping the button below). But, this deal has been around for some time now, since around the start of summer. With Prime Day here and ending soon, it's very likely the time for this deal to end as well. If you want one of the best TVs ever for under $2,000, be sure to tap the button below now.

$1,998 at Amazon

Read more
An amazing TV under $1,000 has a sub $500 Prime Day price (and it’s ending soon)
TCL QM6K

We're now in the final moments of Amazon's summer Prime Day 2025 event, and finding critical last-minute deals. Here's one that almost fundamentally changes how you'll likely think about a product. See, we have a whole list of the best TVs under $1,000, a price point that a ton of people that love TVs just don't feel comfortable crossing. Then, we have a separate list for budget TVs, the best TVs under $500. Even though prices (which move up and down!) are quantitative data points, the differences between a sub $1,000 and a sub $500 TV feel almost categorical in nature, like the difference between water and steam. This deal take the $600 55-inch TCL QM6K (one of the TVs in our 'under $1,000' list) and pushes its price down by $152. This puts it at a price of $448, which is an all time low for it on Amazon, transforms it into an 'under $500' TV. Tap the button below to get the transformative deal while Prime Day is still here or continue reading to see why we liked it so much even when it was over $500.

$448 at Amazon

Read more