EDITED (after 1st answer):
Can anyone help by pointing to some good references for the creation and presentation of a 3D environment (a real room) on a website.
Ideally it will not involve too much expense or too high a learning curve as this is a one off requirement for a small project.
VRML, Java3D, or Flash depending on how adventurous you are.
See Papervision3D (panorama demo) and 360 Degrees of Freedom.
Hm... I'm not sure if I understand what exactly do you want to know. But, since I made a similar sites (panoye and ela) I'll try to respond...
There are many different ways to show a panoramic, java applet (ptviewer, very easy but it is java), javascript (bad for spherical images, since it can't deal with equirectangular panoramas distortions) and flash. I use javascript and flashpanoramas flash viewer. With flashpanoramas your php script must create XML files for all panoramas.
For spherical panoramas - I think flash is the way. But then, your panoramas should be cubic, not equirectangular.
Anyway, I'm not sure if there is an quick & easy way...
The panotools, and hugin in particular, suite is quite good if you are looking for a free tools. Viewers can also be found here
Check the stores and gallery i'm operating at enjoy3d.com .. They use various implementations of Papervision3D. I have developed a toolset and art-pipeline that allows me to create a rich immersive environment in less than a week. And I am currently working on new tech that can handle an 'endless' world with unbounded quantities of content.
I'd also take a look at Alternativa3D if you don't mind paying for licensing