Hotel room thermometers normally don't let you adjust the temperature above or below a certain point, which can lead to some pretty warm rooms in the summer time or chilly ones in the winter. If you want more control, here's how to override your hotel thermometer, put it in "VIP" mode, and tweak it where you like it.


Gary Leff, writing for View from the Wing, shared the video above, which shows you how it's done. Most hotel wall units (Gary noted that Hilton and Hyatt specifically tend to use this type of thermostat) that you'll have access to will work this way. The window units on the air conditioner/heaters themselves may be a bit more flexible, but give this a try on your next wall thermometer:

Hold down the “display” button

While holding that button, press “off”

Release off, continue to hold down display, and Press the “up” arrow button

Release all buttons

This trick also disables the motion sensors that many hotels use to only keep the heating and cooling system active at all when a guest is in the room—that means that you won't have to wait for a sweltering room to gradually cool off when you get back from a long day, or wait for an ice cold room to warm up in the winter.


Gary explains that you don't have to just be quirky about the temperature to use this trick—sometimes hotels try and save money by keeping the room thermostats in a certain range, leading to uncomfortable guests, and in his case, he had a room that got a ton of sunlight that warmed it up in the daytime, making it really hot, even with the thermostat turned down as far as it can go. Either way, the power is yours—to be more comfortable when you travel. Hit the link below to read more—his commenters, both at the link below and his much older post have some similar tricks for other hotel chains that may not use these units, too.

How to Override Your Hotel’s Thermostat Controls and Make it as Cool or Hot As You’d Like | View from the Wing