Hybrid organic inorganic metal halides of the type CH3NH3PbX3 have emerged as potential materials for photovoltaic applications. In this paper we discuss structural, electronic, and optical spectroscopy investigations performed on high quality single crystals of CH3NH3PbI3. Our results conclusively suggest that CH3NH3PbI3 crystallizes in centrosymmetric space group and the methylammonium moiety exhibits disordered packing at room temperature. Extracted values of the exciton binding energy, the electron-phonon coupling constant, and the schematic energy level diagram constructed from the emission broadening, Raman, and photoemission spectroscopy measurements clearly show the potential of this system in photovoltaic applications.