Having run today's event at a less-than-swish hotel, my tip for running events would be always check your venue before the day. Think of it in the same way as buying or renting a house - go see what it's like but think things through like how convenient it is for parking, public transport. Think about when you're going to be there, for example, how will it operate out of hours? You may have examples where even the best planning couldn't prepare you for unforeseen events. But having aged considerably when arriving at our chosen venue, I would highly recommend a visit and reading documents with very critical eyes to cut down on stress levels! And if the venue is scheduled to be demolished shortly after your event, take this to be a bad sign :-)