San Clemente

Hotel Undergoing Face Lift:Renovations have begun on the historic Hotel San Clemente, a 1927 landmark and a home for senior citizens which was recently sold to a Laguna Beach doctor for $1.5 million. “There is a great need for repairs but it will remain as a hotel for the elderly,” said a spokeswoman for Dr. Benjamin Milchiker, an endocrinologist. Milchiker purchased the Spanish-style, three-story building from Roy Stevens, a Saddleback College professor. Donna Watson of Del Mar Realty and Investments, who represented Stevens in the sale, said he filled a need for housing for senior citizens when he bought and restored the hotel after the city had threatened to tear it down in the late 1960s. The 48-unit hotel was built by city founder Ole Hanson in 1927. It provides housing for 48 residents and six small commercial businesses. Some of the residents receive rent subsidies from the government, but the hotel is not government subsidized, Watson said.