Ability to view non-live, stop-gap or intermediate domains that include a .htaccess file

I sometimes need to show clients their new websites before it goes live. You can normally do this via the IP address followed by a pointer to the directory (e.g. 12.12.12.12/~newdir). The problem is this address will not recognise a website using a .htaccess file and produces an error.

This does not allow me to display the website to clients as it will look on the server it is being hosted on. I know I can change hosts file in Windows to view the directory myself but I cannot expect clients to be able to do the same. A type of Alias address that allows viewing is some thing I am used to on my Windows server so I am sure this can be introduced to the cPanel.