Two Sheraton hotels are trying out free computer usage, free Wi-Fi and Ethernet: Yahoo is sponsoring tests at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina and Sheraton Boston; Sheratons in New York City and Stamford are testing simply free Internet access in rooms. A section of the lobby has Internet-connected computers, free for guests, that have branded Yahoo information services and an enticement to paid Yahoo services.
Many budget and lower-end leisure hotels offer free Wi-Fi and wired Internet access, including chains like Holiday Inn, but business hotels have been more reluctant. Wyndham, for instance, charges for access unless you're a member of their free affinity program, so it's a matter of knowledge to save money.
Many industry analysts in the hotel and connectivity markets have suggested for years that Internet service would evolved in an amenity, and if the Sheraton/Yahoo branding partnership makes sense, then the hotels don't have to pay for that amenity to provide it to its guests.