After refurbishment, you won't see a DVD player under your tv. Fear not, they are available free on request, just ask reception.
Unfortunately our hotel televisions are neutered with almost all of the smart stuff turned off. The reason is that it is all or nothing, and we worry that people will leave their netflix logged on and other people will steal details or even worse watch every episode of Stranger Things and you'd lose where you were up to...
Help is at hand if you buy something that will replace the smart stuff. Firesticks are about the cheapest and they work well. Of course other smart television devices are available...
You can pick one up from amazon for as little as £30 and even less if you catch them on special offer. Basically you plug this into the television and it will give you various Apps you can use. If you are in resort and want one now, then Worten and FNAC have chinese brand boxes which seem similar.
Netflix, Apple Tv+, Disney, Amazon Prime will then all work almost as normal. As you are in Portugal you might notice some small differences in the programmes offered, but not much. BBC, ITV etc... won't work without some trickery, see the VPN section for that. Youtube will work fine.
If you are tech savvy enough (or your grandkids are) to download films or tv onto a USB stick or a usb hard drive, our televisions do have two USB sockets. Unfortunately though, to cut down on the amount of time our I.T. department spend on trying to troubleshoot problems, they have disconnected said USB sockets.
Not a problem though, we have agreed with I.T. that if any member asks, they will activate the sockets in your apartment AS LONG as you know that they will not provide support if it's not working. We can probably help you in the office mind you.
Got to love a good achronym. A VPN (virtual private network) is a thingie that allows you to trick BBC and ITV into thinking you are in Portugal. It is perfectly legal, in fact if Britain was still in the EU it would be illegal for them to stop you watching it, but thats enough politics...
Basically its an app, or website extention that when you have selected UK and switched on, your internet traffic goes through the VPN first, and is routed through a UK IP address. If any of that confuses you just replace the confusing word with thingie and it will make sense.
Of course, you will need a device then to watch the programs on, see the separate bit about firesticks or you can watch on your tablet or phone or laptop. You cannot use a VPN or anything else to improve the channels on the tv itself.
Will it work all the time? Sadly no, its like a game of cat and mouse, the tv companies are constantly trying to block those IP addresses and the VPNs are constantly changing them. However 95% of the time its likely to get you your Coronation Street or Love island or whatever you want to watch. Only Sky Go will likely not work.
There are free VPNs but it can be really hit and miss finding a free one that works well. Otherwise most commercial VPNs charge about €40 a year or so.
PureVPN works fine and you can get a free months trial here. Otherwise Private Internet Access or NordVPN are two of the biggest.
AXN is your best bet for American shows and theres 3 AXN channels. Also Fox & Fox Life are similar, all American and in English with Portuguese subtitles. Hollywood shows films in English.
Alas BBC Entertainment and BBC World News have gone from our televisions. Our tv provider NOS has removed them from their list.
Watch BBC News here
