In-Room Internet

<H1> In-Room Internet</H1>Detroit </I>- Adding to the growing trend toward hotel-supplied Internet services, the Sterling Banquet & Conference Center, a Best Western property in suburban Sterling Heights, Mich., is installing direct Internet access in each of its 160 rooms .

The hotel, located 15 miles from downtown Detroit, will offer direct network access to the Internet from guest rooms, said general manager Victor Martin.

The hotel began offering guests quick and free access in one of its test suites in August. The room is connected directly to the Net through a server. Once the 90-day test period expires, as many as 50 rooms will be linked to the Internet through computers, Martin said. For those who travel with their own laptops, each room already is equipped with a dataport on the telephone.

Martin said the hotel is anticipating the development, introduction and installation of the so-called Internet box, a device similar to a PC but with far fewer functions. The boxes, designed to allow Internet access with less computer memory, are not yet on the market.

The Sterling, however, is not the only Detroit business hotel with a technology accent. The 1,392-room Westin Hotel in downtown Detroit offers 12 guest-office rooms equipped with ergonomically designed furniture and office lighting, a fax, laser printer, and IBM or Macintosh computer cable hook-up.