I quite enjoy e-mailing or telephoning hotels and venues in advance of my arrival (or even my booking) to question them about bicycle parking. Often the answers involve phrases such as "Umm", "We don't have any" and "Let me find out for you".
I've both organised and attended events at Edinburgh Zoo before, and had suggested to the conference people that the bike stands on the pavement outside weren't ideal, especially if one was intending to cycle an expensive bike. There's no bike parking at the mansion house either; the first time I locked my bike to a drainpipe, the second time I took my folding bike inside with me, and the third time I asked them to store my bike inside, which to their credit they were happy to do. But for a regular Zoo-going visitor, those aren't really options.
Hotels almost never have cycle parking, but also generally don't question someone bringing a bike inside, shoehorning it into a lift, and into the bedroom or the conference room. While touring in the US I learned to walk into a motel with my bike, as though it was simply a suitcase. Fitting an eight-foot long bike into an elevator is ... entertaining.
Birmingham NEC is another poor example which makes a big song and dance about car parking, rail, air, and buses, but nothing about cycling. The only bike stand turned out to be an unloved set of nine wheelbenders in a corner of car park E, and 360 metres' walk from the nearest entrance. It's also used by motorbikers rather than cyclists. I took my folding bike inside with me and at great cost (£2) was able to have it stored in a cloakroom. Mind you, the NEC isn't the easiest place to visit on a bike anyway.
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