There are times when a hotel room is an empty cell, a box with a bed and a desk where the weary traveler will crash, shower and vacate without even opening the blinds. And then there are times when the hotel room is a home. Whether a businessman has a day off from a busy work schedule or a family is spending a day indoors relaxing, these are the best times to get to know your hotel room — and take advantage of it.

Naturally, it’s best to come well prepared — or at least know what you’re getting into. Many hotel chains these days offer in-room amenities like iPod docks, active links to multimedia centers and even computers. Others leave the work up to you — while they may not overtly give you the means to connect your video player or iPod or boombox to the TV, the connections are still there just waiting for you to connect.

So if you know that you’re going to have some down time in your hotel room, here are five great tips for maximizing your entertainment:

Know Your Room

Many rooms come with DVD players, iPod docks and everything you need to fire up some entertainment. If you’ve got doubts, call the hotel and ask what’s offered. A small stack of DVDs can keep unruly kids busy for hours, while the last three seasons of Mad Men streamed from iTunes onto the plasma TV can be a lifesaver at night.

If in Doubt, Bring the Right Cables

Almost every single hotel television has what’s called an RCA jack on the back of it somewhere. Plugging in any video-enabled device (laptop, personal DVD player, iPod) into these ports instantly makes it your personal media center. There’s a great post on taking advantage of this technology over on Gadling. If you just want a shortcut to your iPhone media cable, you can find that here.

Take Advantage of the Internet

If your room has free Internet, it’s astonishingly easy to find and stream television shows straight to your computer. Traditional sites like Hulu.com abound all over the web, and if you want to venture into other shows, it’s as easy as typing in “Favorite Show, stream” into Google. Try it. With the further connection to your TV, you’ve got unlimited free TV shows at your fingertips.

There’s Absolutely Nothing Wrong with Going Analog

Whether this is bringing your own board games to play with the kids or taking advantage of the amenities on hand, a little bit of creative juice and the will to have fun is all that you need to enjoy yourself. WikiHow has some cheesy starting points.

On-Demand TV Is Expensive, but it Can Be Your Friend

As a last-ditch resort, it’s always possible to rent a movie or, in some chains, fire up a few video games for the kids to keep occupied. While many of these services come with hefty fees, it can often be a small price to pay for a bit of peace and quiet.

Finally, it’s always best to keep the right frame of mind during your stay. Even if you’re working hard during the day and don’t really want to be staying in a hotel room, staying positive and open-minded is an imperative to enjoying your stay. And if you’re having trouble with that, there’s always the mini-bar.