Travelers can stay connected without lugging a laptop at certain Sheraton hotels offering free Yahoo-sponsored Internet access at lobby computers, the companies said on Monday.
"This is an opportunity to bring Yahoo beyond the desktop," said Murray Gaylord, vice president of brand marketing at Yahoo Inc., the world's largest Internet media site.
The companies are conducting pilot projects at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina and Sheraton Boston, where a section of lobby has been reconfigured with work stations at round conference-type tables as well as sofas and other comfortable seating. The Wi-Fi and broadband Internet service can also be accessed without charge from the hotels' guest rooms.
Sheraton is the largest and most global hotel brand operated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.
"The idea is to reinforce our themes of warm, welcome and connected," said Javier Benito, Starwood's chief marketing officer.
At hotels in New York City and Stamford, Connecticut, the pilot is described as "virtual" because it is limited free in-room access to the same services.
These include special pages of online information like local weather reports and restaurant listings as well as a 30-day free trial to Yahoo services such as expanded e-mail and computer games.
"As the Internet is evolving, people want to have access to it wherever they are," Gaylord said.
He said the companies will gauge over the next couple of months which model works best at which hotels.
The two companies are sharing the cost of the project as well as any potential revenue from sales of Yahoo services, Benito said.
Driven in part by the need to justify higher room rates, hotel operators have been adding amenities.
Many offer free high-speed Internet access for laptops, but Sheraton and Yahoo say they are the first to offer a co-branded product.
Starwood itself kicked off the hotel industry's renewed focus on VIP amenities with its 1999 "Heavenly Bed" concept.
Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited.
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