Renovation

Your choices in San Francisco hotels are overwhelming. The prices can be too. So during our staff visit to the City by the Bay, we looked for reasonably priced hotels that had charm, location or both. We came back with 14 ideas on places to bed down. It's not a complete list, but it is eclectic, like the city itself. Mystic Hotel. This property, which opened in April, stands on a tunnel-adjacent block of Stockton Street that you'll never see on a picture postcard, yet it has style, as do the Burritt Tavern bar and restaurant downstairs.

When the upcoming comedy "The Hangover Part III" wrapped production in January, Warner Bros. was left with tons of used plywood, joists, furniture, faux brick and other materials from the film set. But instead of hauling the leftovers to the landfill, the studio donated the items - enough to fill 10 truckloads - to the charitable organization Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles, to be sold in Habitat's stores in Gardena and Norwalk....

In its glory days, the Forum was Southern California's preeminent entertainment venue, a behemoth with Roman columns where adoring fans came to see the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Wayne Gretzky and Bob Dylan. But the famous round building fell on hard times. The Los Angeles Lakers and Kings moved downtown. Other venues in up-and-coming neighborhoods came along to nab the concert business. And, in the end, the Forum was bought by the Faithful Central Bible Church and all but forgotten.

The Rose Bowl's new premium seating pavilion has yet to open, but stadium officials say seats are already selling fast. Construction of pavilion and press box levels on the stadium's west side has been the most significant - and expensive - aspect of ongoing stadium renovations now priced at $181 million. The renovation was originally billed as a $152-million effort in 2010, but projected costs climbed to nearly $195 million before city officials down-scaled some planned improvements earlier this year.

If you're planning to renovate a home built before 1978, there are regulations concerning dust and other materials containing lead, a toxic substance formerly used in paint. Some key things to know: • Contractors: A contractor hired to remodel more than 6 square feet indoors in homes, schools or child-care facilities built before 1978 must by law be trained and certified in proper practices. The Environmental Protection Agency website can help you find a certified renovator in your area.

Northeast London's William Morris Gallery has reopened after an $8-million overhaul that has reinvigorated the childhood home of Britain's Arts and Crafts pioneer. This elegant parkland villa in Walthamstow -- a free-entry attraction -- showcases Morris' oeuvre, from curlicue tapestries to heroic-themed stained glass, using touchscreens, interactive activities and period artifacts to illuminate a Victorian who believed beauty was essential to human existence. The first of nine rooms introduces Morris, stoking your interest for the next room's early experiments in painting, embroidery and furniture-making.

Has the Ritz Paris lost its mojo? Maybe, but here's how it aims to get it back. The hotel at 15 Place Vendome that once ruled the city as the essence of chic will be closed for more than two years to undergo an "unprecedented renovation," according to a hotel statement. The hotel will close next summer to redo 160 rooms and suites, restaurants, bars, spa, common areas and even the gardens of the hotel founded by Cesar Ritz in 1898. This also includes closing L'Espadon restaurant and the Ritz-Escoffier cooking school.

The renovation of UCLA's Pauley Pavilion officially began Tuesday with a groundbreaking ceremony for a project that is expected to cost $136 million and be completed in two years. UCLA administrators said they have raised $65 million of the $100-million goal for the privately financed portion of the project, though they have only a third of that in cash. "Most donors are paying over a five-year period," Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said, adding that the remainder of the project will be paid for with "existing student fees earmarked for student-run facilities, for life safety and seismic upgrades, and the rest is debt service."

Orel Hershiser wants to save Dodger Stadium by double-decking the right-field pavilion? Not exactly, even if that might be the most striking feature of a stadium renovation rendering he released Friday. Hershiser, the pitching star for the Dodgers' last World Series championship team in 1988, said he hoped to use the drawing to share with prospective new owners a vision for the preservation and enhancement of Dodger Stadium. "People don't know how heartfelt I am about keeping Dodger Stadium," Hershiser said in an interview Friday.

Hoping to recapture its rep as the trendiest resort in Las Vegas , the Palms is undergoing a $50-million renovation that includes new restaurants and lounges and renovated guest rooms. Almost immediately upon opening in 2001, the Palms  became known as the place to see and be seen in Sin City. It's where Britney Spears honeymooned in 2004 after a marriage that lasted 55 hours. The opening of other properties (the Cosmopolitan, for instance) stole some of its thunder. As part of the redo, the Ivory Tower's 428 guest rooms are now awash in warm woods and velvet accents.

SAN DIEGO - With the Padres playing their home opener Tuesday, the Dodgers will be the first team to hit in Petco Park since it was renovated over the off-season. Long considered one of baseball's most pitcher-friendly parks, Petco Park is not as cavernous as it used to be. The wall that runs from right field to right center was brought in 11 feet. The wall in left-center was also moved in. The parts of right-center and left-center that were 402 feet away from home plate are now 391 and 390 feet away, respectively.

What could be the most impressive feature of the $100-million-plus renovations at Dodger Stadium can't be seen by the public: the home clubhouse. "It's probably the best clubhouse in baseball," Adrian Gonzalez said. "Something comes up, we feel bad to even bring it up now. " Although modernized, the players' dressing quarters aren't much larger than they used to be. But the room is only one in a subterranean maze that was created by Janet Marie Smith , who oversaw the renovation project.

As fans arrived at Dodger Stadium's loge-level entrance in the right-field corner Friday, many formed an impromptu line to snap photos of themselves in front of a 10-foot-high figure of the team's iconic "LA" logo. The figure is one small touch in the $100-million renovation of the stadium, where workers were still hanging signs, sweeping stairs and tinkering with wiring up until the Dodgers took the field against the Angels in their exhibition Freeway Series. "We have a lot of polishing and tweaking still to do" before the Dodgers' season opener against the San Francisco Giants at the 51-year-old stadium Monday, Dodgers President Stan Kasten said.

PHOENIX - The majority of the renovations at Dodger Stadium will be completed by Friday for the Freeway Series exhibition against the Angels, team President Stan Kasten said. The Dodgers will have a new clubhouse and there will be new amenities on every level of the stadium. The team wants to provide improved mobile phone service in the ballpark, but that probably won't be available until the second homestand of the regular season. Wi-Fi will be upgraded throughout the stadium, but in June.

When the Edward H. Ackerman American Legion Post 397 in Hellertown closed in 2008, the public story was that the aging building had become too expensive to maintain. In a sense, that was true, but one of the reasons it had become too expensive was because the post's treasurer had embezzled tens of thousands of dollars, diverting membership dues into his own pocket and forging signatures to cash checks. The post also owed back federal payroll taxes. The sad details of that episode don't need to be recounted.

Hoping to recapture its rep as the trendiest resort in Las Vegas , the Palms is undergoing a $50-million renovation that includes new restaurants and lounges and renovated guest rooms. Almost immediately upon opening in 2001, the Palms  became known as the place to see and be seen in Sin City. It's where Britney Spears honeymooned in 2004 after a marriage that lasted 55 hours. The opening of other properties (the Cosmopolitan, for instance) stole some of its thunder. As part of the redo, the Ivory Tower's 428 guest rooms are now awash in warm woods and velvet accents.

The Bel Air Bar and Grill has re-opened for lunch and dinner service after an 18-month renovation. Susan Disney Lord directed the renovation along with Killefer Flammang Architects and interior design team Ralph Gentile Architects . The LEED-certified restaurant's new digs include a revamped interior and a brand new second-level private dining room. Diners enter the restaurant lobby through a two-story red bougainvillea glass-box atrium, designed by artist Amanda Weil of Weil Studio , before proceeding into the ground floor restaurant or up a clear glass stairway to the second level that features views of the Getty Center.

Stacks of legal documents cover the kitchen table, and architectural plans poke from pantry shelves at Judy Shea's home. Her kitchen has become central command in a long-running battle with Glendale City Hall. It's an extremely expensive fight that she hopes will end with her regaining control of her home and a nightmare home improvement project. "They're drowning me," Shea said of the city as she riffled through stacks of paperwork and bills. Officials say Shea is anything but a victim: The city says she and her family brought trouble upon themselves when they nearly quadrupled the size of their home without seeking city approval or construction permits.

While working at Hollywood Park Casino, Tafere Haileselassie has been able to achieve what some say is the American Dream. The Ethiopian immigrant said he put his two children through college and bought a house in the Crenshaw district, all on the tips and minimum-wage salary he earned as a porter at the Inglewood card club. But come March, when a new manager is scheduled to take over the daily operations of the aging casino, Haileselassie and about 600 workers may be out of jobs.

The gig: Real estate developer and moviemaker Andrew Meieran, 46, is staking his reputation and millions of dollars on an attempt to revive one of the most beloved restaurants in Los Angeles history - Clifton's Cafeteria on Broadway. Known for its Disney-like forest theme, Clifton's Brookdale Cafeteria served an estimated 170 million meals starting in 1935 but lost traction in recent decades as the city's historic core fell out of favor. Meieran took it over in 2010 and closed it the following year to begin its renovation.