Traveling Without a Charger? This Hotel Room Tip Is for You

Settling into a hotel room after a long trip is supposed to be relaxing—unless you discover you’ve forgotten something important. Leaving medication or other personal effects behind can be stressful. So can realizing you no longer have your phone’s charging block, which may have been abandoned at an airport outlet.

Fortunately, there’s a way to keep your phone charged. All it requires is the hotel room’s television.

In a tip shared by Instagram user Armen Adamjan and passed along by Travel + Leisure, travelers missing their charging block can try to locate a USB port on the television. (It’s a feature on most newer models.) The port is typically located on the rear or side of the units. Providing you have a USB cable compatible with your phone, you should be able to replenish the battery by plugging it into the set.

If you find one, make sure the television is turned on—it may not charge otherwise—and give it time. The port is likely to be much slower than a dedicated charger.

Not all hotel televisions will have USB ports, either because it’s an older model or because the hotel chain wants to restrict what you do with the set.

If that’s the case, you might also find USB ports in newer power outlets, desktop chargers, or in lamps. But if there’s no port to be seen in your room and your phone is gasping for power, you can always try asking the front desk if they have any charging blocks in their lost and found. A phone charger is one of the items most frequently forgotten by guests.