When the Royals started planning for the renovation of Kauffman Stadium, they wanted to accommodate the average Joe and Joan and their kids. They've done that with seat prices that start at $7 and more food stands and restrooms and a lot of interactive features in the outfield.

But they included some upscale facilities too, starting with nine Triple Crown Suites behind home plate. These are the Cadillac of the facilities, with granite countertops, exotic wood flooring, leather-wrapped cabinetry and other amenities.

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There also are 14 Signature Suites, seven on each side, that feature quartz countertops, tile flooring and a sliding-glass wall system that leads to Loge Level seats. These suites are two or three times larger than the old ones.

These are the type of suites normally bought by corporations.

"As you can see, we didn't overbuild the new suites," said Kevin Uhlich, Royals senior vice president of business operations.

"I think a lot of the new stadiums that are built today, they've actually regretted the amount of suites they have. They're finding ways of turning them into other things -- corporate sales areas or group party areas. They're knocking down walls and combining them. So especially in our market size, we didn't overbuild the suite piece."

Beyond the Signature Suites are the Signature Club Boxes.

"We broke up the Signature Suite into smaller areas for fans so if they didn't want to buy the whole suite, they could buy a smaller piece of it," Uhlich said.

Here fans can purchase season tickets in small allotments in areas named for two of the Royals' greatest players.

"We have the George Brett and Frank White Signature Lounges. Each one of them takes the place of three suites," Uhlich said.

"We opted not to build six more suites and instead did two of these lounges. The seating out front has a drink rail and real nice pneumatic chairs and padded chairs. The goal there was to give a suite experience to somebody that might not be able to buy a 16- or 18-person suite. But they want to buy two seats or four seats and have that suite experience of having a lounge behind them, a buffet that's included in the ticket price, their own bartender and their own lounge area. So they get the suite experience but didn't have to go out and buy one of the big suites."

Directly behind home plate is the Diamond Club, featuring in-seat service and access to a climate-controlled lounge behind a glass wall. The club can seat 940 fans.

"The Diamond Club we stole from Anaheim," Uhlich said. "That was the first one ever done and I was part of that and to this day, 11 years later, it's still probably the most popular thing in Anaheim and I think this one will have the same feel."

Below the Diamond Club, the Crown Club remains in its prestigious location just a few yards from home plate. The Crown Club has been renovated and can accommodate 242 fans who have private access to the prestigious area.

Also still remaining are the four Dugout Suites, two adjacent to each dugout, that accommodate 64 fans. They have, however, been renovated.

There are also new premium areas, the Dugout Concourse seating behind each dugout. There are 1,600 seats on each side of the stadium and only those ticket holders will be permitted into the special food and beverage areas under the stands. Tickets will be sold on a game-by-game basis.

"I think it's going to be a very popular area," said Bob Rice, vice president of ballpark operations and development.

Also new this year will be the All-Star Party Suites -- five of them -- located on a restricted-access area of the Loge Level near the right-field corner. Each suite can accommodate groups of 20 to 40 fans. Food and beverage packages come with the purchase of a suite.

Across the way, still on the left-field side, is the private membership Stadium Club. However, the club is about half its previous size, with a capacity of 124. It's been completely reworked as well.

There's a new Hall of Fame building behind the left-field wall. The Hall itself will not open until the All-Star break, but the building includes five meeting rooms/suites with a view of the field from above the visiting team's bullpen.

"They're going to be leased -- people can come in during the day and have business meetings, then they can stay and have dinner and watch the game from the roof itself where there's a patio," Uhlich said. "They have air walls between them so you can either have five separate rooms or open the whole piece up for about 200 people."

There's one other very exclusive area on the upper level behind home plate. That's the new press box, which will accommodate 75 writers. Sorry, no fans allowed. You know the rule: no cheering in the press box.