Vancouver has no shortage of venues. But the good ones? Those take some hunting.

The hunting is harder than it should be, because the spaces that turn up when you search for an event venue are the spaces whose business is being an event venue. They're fine. They're also the reason so many parties look like each other.

The more interesting rooms usually belong to someone whose main job is something else, which is exactly why they don't appear in the results. So rather than a list of names — places open and close, and we'd rather not send you somewhere that shut last spring — here are the kinds of space worth chasing, and what we've learned to check before you commit to one.

That second part is where we're actually useful. We turn up at these rooms with equipment and an hour to set it up, which is a quick way to find out who has a surprise waiting.

The best parties happen in places people don't expect.

Converted industrial rooms

High ceilings, hard floors, brick or concrete, and enough square footage that a hundred people don't feel like a crowd. They photograph beautifully, because the walls have texture and the light has somewhere to go.

Check first: the sound. All that hard surface means a room that's lively at forty people can be genuinely hard to talk in at a hundred. And check the loading route — a freight door and a lift make an industrial space a joy, and a flight of stairs makes it a long afternoon for everyone carrying something.

Rooftops

Worth the effort for the two hours around sunset alone. You can't fake that light, and no amount of decorating substitutes for it.

Check first: the contingency. Ask what happens if it rains and be suspicious of a vague answer, because in Vancouver you'll need it more often than you'd like. Ask about wind and power too — rooftops rarely have enough outlets, and anything light enough to carry up is light enough to blow over.

Galleries and studios

Working artist studios, small galleries and photography spaces often rent out in the evenings. They come with white walls, lighting that's already rigged properly, and a certain seriousness that makes an ordinary party feel like an occasion.

Check first: what you're allowed to touch. These rooms usually have rules about walls, floors and anything adhesive. They're reasonable rules — but they're much easier to hear before you've planned an installation than after.

Community and legion halls

The least fashionable option here and, for the money, frequently the best. They're built for exactly this: parking, a kitchen, tables and chairs already in the building, and a caretaker who has seen every possible problem and knows where the fuse box is.

Check first: the lighting and the curfew. Overhead fluorescents will undo a lot of effort, so budget for something warmer. And halls in residential areas often have a hard stop written into the booking.

Restaurants, booked off-hours

A restaurant that closes on Mondays will sometimes let you take the whole room, and it settles catering in the same conversation. You get somewhere already designed to look good with people in it.

Check first: the real floor space once the tables are in. Restaurants are laid out for seated dining rather than for a room where people move around, and the corner you were imagining is often already a service station.

Four questions cover most of it, whichever kind of room you're looking at. Where does equipment come in, where's the nearest outlet, when does the music have to stop, and does the venue want a certificate of insurance from your suppliers. Any venue used to hosting events answers all four without pausing. A hesitation isn't a reason to walk away, but it is a reason to keep asking.

Found somewhere promising and want to know whether it'll work for a booth? Send us the details — we've probably loaded into something like it.