Marriott International Inc. is connecting more dots for the connected traveler.

The hotel chain is piloting connected TVs that guests can use to stream video from their smartphones and tablets to hotel room TV screens. The video content includes TV shows, movies, video games, music and fitness videos. Marriott decided to pilot the technology after guests requested it in feedback surveys, says C. Scott Hansen, director of guest technology, global operations at Marriott International.

“We are meeting the needs of our next generation of travelers, and this is something they’ve asked for,” Hansen says.

Marriott developed a back-end system to choreograph the technology, Hansen says. In each hotel room in the pilot Marriott is also using Google Inc.’s Chromecast, a device that plugs into a TV’s HDMI port and that is powered by a USB cable. Using a smartphone or computer as a remote control, a traveler can use Chromecast to access video content from Netflix, YouTube, Hulu Plus, the Google Play Store and other services.

“We think this is the future of hotel, in-room entertainment,” Hansen says. “The next generation of travelers don’t watch standard, linear TV. They watch YouTube and Netflix more so than standard TV and we need to give them an opportunity to do that in the room.”

Here’s how it works: When a guest signs into Marriott’s Wi-Fi network she inputs her last name and her hotel room number. When she does that, her device is automatically paired to the Chromecast in her room, and thus the TV. She then enters a four-digit code—which is displayed on the TV—on her smartphone to confirm her identify. The TV also has graphics and directions explaining how she can stream video from her smartphone or other device to the TV. Guests can also still use these TVs normally, and don’t have to pair a device to it.

Once the guest’s smartphone is synced to the TV, she can then stream video content onto her hotel room TV. Chromecast is compatible with thousands of entertainment apps, including Netflix, HBO Now, Hulu, Pandora and WatchESPN. A guest can use her iOS or Android smartphone or tablet, or any device that connects to Wi-Fi that also operates apps, Hansen says.

“This is winning the actual stay. This is allowing the guest to customize their stay with their device,” he says.

Up to six guests per room can use the Wi-Fi, but only one device can sync with the TV. Whoever signs on last will have the device that pairs to the TV, Hansen says. Once the guest checks out, the four-digit passcode expires and the next guest in that room will have a different passcode.

The pilot is live at two Marriott hotels, Moxy Tempe in Phoenix and the AC Hotel National Harbor in Maryland, which is near the Marriott headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland.

Hansen declined to say how many guests had used the technology in the first three months of the test, and says Marriott hasn’t decided whether or not to roll it out to other hotels. “It’s not a binary yes no. If it has a higher take rate, then we would roll it out faster,” Hansen says. “We don’t know how many people understand broadcasting content from mobile devices to the TV, and we may be ahead of our time,” he adds.

It took a team of three people between six and eight months to develop this technology, Hansen says. Research and development for the project was in excess of $100,000, he says.

When developing the system, Marriott had to work through several challenges, such as making sure the Chromecast devices were secure. For example, since every hotel room has a Chromecast device that guests can sign into, Marriott had to ensure that guests couldn’t tap into anyone else’s Chromecast and take content another visitor’s stream.

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