US Patent 7116211 Biometric authentication of hospitality-site customers

A method and system for checking a guest into a hospitality site is provided. A biometric sample is captured from a guest using a biometric-sample-capture device to create a portable biometric profile. The biometric sample is compared to a biometric sample previously stored in a memory location. If the guest is authenticated, he/she is approved for check-in. A user profile can be retrieved that has a set of user preferences. These user preferences can then be used to customize the guests stay at the hospitality site. Many hospitality sites can remotely access the biometric profile to effect authentication.