An apparatus for hotel room selection and check in includes a database, user interface, room key dispenser, and computer processor. The apparatus stores and displays images and descriptions of a hotel or parts of a hotel to help a person make a room selection. The apparatus includes a touch screen on which touch-sensitive graphical buttons are displayed to allow a person to set selection criteria, which are used by the processor as filter parameters. The filter parameters are applied, by the apparatus or an external system, to a hotel room data set to obtain information about one or more hotel rooms that meet the person's selection criteria.