Madonna Inn Informations

The Madonna Inn is a motel in San Luis Obispo, California. Opened for business in 1958, it quickly became a landmark on the Central Coast of California. It was created by Alex Madonna, a successful construction magnate and entrepreneur (d. April 2004), and his wife Phyllis. The inn includes a restaurant and bakery, and is located on the west side of US Route 101 and situated on the lower eastern portion of Cerro San Luis Obispo.

The property is adorned with a pseudo-Swiss-Alps exterior and lavish common rooms accented by pink roses, Western murals, and hammered copper. Each of the 110 guest rooms and suites is uniquely designed and themed, though some tourists stop just to peek at the famous rock waterfall urinal located in the men's restroom, a feature designed by Hollywood set designer Harvey Allen Warren.

Aiming to cater to a range of tastes, rooms were given unusual names such as "Yahoo", "Love Nest", "Old Mill", "Kona Rock", "Irish Hills", "Cloud Nine", "Just Heaven", "Hearts and Flowers", "Rock Bottom", "Austrian Suite", "Cabin Still", "Old World Suite", "Caveman Room", "Elegance", "Daisy Mae", "Safari Room", "Highway Suite", "Jungle Rock", "American Home", "Bridal Falls", and "the Carin". Some rooms are grouped in themes. For example, the rooms "Ren", "Dez", and "Vous" are a play on the French word rendezvous, and "Merry", "Go", and "Round", for an amusement park carousel.

The Madonna Inn opened as a motel inn on December 24, 1958 upon the completion of its first twelve rooms. Demand was sufficient to expand to forty rooms in 1959, and the Inn facility was constructed in 1960.

In 1966, the Inn's original units were burned to the ground in a fire. It reopened a year later, and by the end of the decade, all of the rooms had been rebuilt in manner for which they are known today. There are 110 rooms.

By 1982, the Madonna Inn was already well-known, and Alex Madonna was quoted as saying, "Anybody can build one room and a thousand like it. It's more economical. Most places try to give you as little as possible. I try to give people a decent place to stay where they receive more than they are entitled to for what they're paying. I want people to come in with a smile and leave with a smile. It's fun."

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