Hotel Room Too Hot? Here's The Sneaky Hack To Override That Thermostat

Hotels try their best to be your "home away from home," but truth be told, they're just not. Sure, you can cozy up and customize a few things, like using an item already in the room to sleep sounder or sweet-talking the concierge into fulfilling a couple of special requests, but there are certain limits. For instance, that plush hotel robe isn't yours to keep no matter how tempting it is to take it home, and you might struggle to find certain bathroom essentials that should have been there from the get-go. And let's not forget the often frustratingly fixed air conditioning settings that refuse to budge — unless you do a bit of tweaking to hack the system.

Unlike an Airbnb or Vrbo rental where you normally have the freedom to crank up the A/C to your heart's content, hotel air conditioning is often pre-calibrated to keep things "just right" — for the hotel, not you. If you're sweating it out or freezing under the covers, don't expect an easy fix on the A/C remote. While you can always try to ask the concierge to alter the settings for you, the good news is you can take matters into your own hands for an immediate fix. It might not be obvious right away, but with a of tinkering, you can make your room as cozy as you want. You can start by switching to AC's "VIP" mode.

You can't do much about the chilliness of your cabin inside the plane, but when it comes to your hotel room, you've got a bit more control — if you know the right tricks. Simply fiddling with the thermostat remote or mashing buttons won't cut it, though. Instead, per TikTok user @lee.fields' workaround, activating the hotel AC's "VIP" mode is the secret to overriding those annoyingly pre-calibrated settings.

In a video, they demonstrate just how effortless it is to hack the system. To unlock "VIP" mode, you just need to follow a simple button sequence: hold down the display button, then tap the auto button, and finally hit the up arrow. If you've done it right, the screen will flash the word "VIP," signaling that you've done it successfully. Once activated, you can freely adjust the temperature to your liking and, as a bonus, it apparently deactivates the motion sensor, so the A/C won't shut off in the middle of the night while you're snoozing.

Now, does this hack work in every hotel with a calibrated AC system? That's still up in the air. But some folks in the comments of the TikTok have confirmed that it works in a couple of popular hotel chains, so it's well worth trying. "It works at Hilton," one user confirmed, while another said, "Omg this worked for the Westin we're staying in!"

If the "VIP" mode hack doesn't work in your hotel, don't throw in the towel just yet. TikTok user @ridewithyusuf offers a plan B: a little bit of research can lead you to an alternative workaround. In their video, they explain that hotels often pre-calibrate their air conditioning systems to keep energy bills low, even if it means guests are left shivering or sweating. "These places buy these thermostats where the administrator can just lock the temperature so that way it doesn't fluctuate from super hot to super cold," they explained.

But before you resign yourself to being uncomfortable, they suggested turning to your trusty BFF, the internet. "Every thermostat has an override setting, so if you go to YouTube, and you find what the name of your thermostat is in your hotel room or Airbnb, you'll be able to Google how do I override the temperature." In their case, sleuthing led them to discover "hidden" settings on their room's thermostat, allowing them to tweak the temperature to their liking.

If that still doesn't work, there's one more hack that might save the day. A user on the subreddit r/lifehacks shared their own trick for dealing with centrally-controlled units that can't be overridden. "Portable rechargeable hand warmers," they said. "I just hang one of these bad boys under the thermostat." It might sound a bit out there, but where there's a will, there's definitely a way!