If you're traveling internationally, make a note of where your country's embassy/consulate is.
Book 1 night at a hotel incase things do go wrong (you could always look for a hotel after, but if you're traveling to a popular tourist destination there's a good chance many of the good value hotels won't have rooms and you'll be stuck with the expensive rooms/hostels.
I'd recommend using public transport instead of getting in their car (can't do much if the place has poor transport links.). This applies to taxi's too - if things didn't go to well and you're devastated/angry you may feel like jumping into a cab and having them take you to your hotel. Some countries have very poorly regulated taxi services, and you really don't want to get into them unless you speak the language well.
If things went badly, try to just enjoy the place you're in. I had one bad experience and after seeing the prices for flights back within the next 14 days (~$4-5k) I couchsurfed and just spent my time there as best as I could.
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