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Most cardrooms are well managed. They're clean and pleasant and provide an enjoyable environment. Unfortunately, some are really dingy, unpleasant, gloomy rooms. You'll need to check out the cardrooms near you and make a choice. Not all cardrooms are alike. If you have a bad experience at one, don't give up. Try another room. The best way to choose, of course, is to get a recommendation from a friend.
A third way to find a good cardroom is to just pick the largest in your area. In most cases you're more likely to have a good experience at a large cardroom. They will tend to have a wider selection of games, and game selection is the most critical decision you'll make when playing poker. Larger cardrooms also tend to put more effort into customer relations. They have a lot of tables to fill and need happy customers to maintain repeat business.
This isn't a slam against small cardrooms. Many of them are very good rooms, with very good games. Once you've gained some experience, you should at least check out the smaller cardrooms in your area. In fact, in some locations, the smaller rooms often have the better games. That's particularly the case in Las Vegas.
In Las Vegas the larger cardrooms tend to offer a wider range of limits. The local pros and semipros tend to be attracted to the rooms with the higher limit games. The smaller rooms in Las Vegas, which tend to offer exclusively low-limit games, often don't attract the local pros or regulars, relying almost entirely on tourist players.