Connect through a VPN, which hides the destination from the hotel's filter. If the hotel blocks the VPN too, switch protocols, and failing that, use your own mobile data.
- Check it's really a block. A "blocked by policy" page or a category name (adult, gambling, peer to peer) means a filter. A page that just won't load may be a timed-out login portal, so reopen that first.
- Turn on encrypted DNS. Many hotel filters work by refusing DNS lookups for listed domains. Chrome's secure DNS setting or Android's Private DNS can be enough for simple DNS blocks.
- Use a VPN. If the filter inspects the site name in your connection, a VPN like NordVPN is the reliable fix: the hotel sees only traffic to a VPN server, so it can't match the destination against its blocklist.
- If the VPN won't connect, change protocol. Some hotels block common VPN ports. Switching to OpenVPN over TCP, which runs on the same port as ordinary HTTPS traffic, or turning on an obfuscation setting usually gets through.
- Fall back to your own connection. Use your phone's hotspot or a travel eSIM. Hotels aren't allowed to interfere with it: the FCC warned in 2015 that blocking guests' personal hotspots is prohibited.
Stay on the right side of the rules
Getting past a guest network's content filter can break the hotel's terms of use, and the hotel can cut off your access. Don't use it for anything unlawful, like pirated downloads, which many filters exist to stop.
Abroad, the block may come from the government, not the hotel. In China or the UAE, VPN use carries its own legal restrictions, so check local law first.