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Madonna Inn

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The Madonna Inn is a motel in San Luis Obispo, California. Opened in 1958, it quickly became a landmark on the Central Coast of California. It is noted for its unique decor, pink dining room, and themed rooms.<ref name=":0" /> It was created by Alex Madonna, a successful construction magnate and entrepreneur (d. April 2004), and his wife Phyllis.<ref name="KoppelNYT"/> 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.

DescriptionEdit

MotelEdit

The property is adorned with a pseudo–Swiss Alps exterior and lavish common rooms accented by pink roses, Western murals, and hammered copper. The predominant exterior color is pink, which extends to the lamp posts and trash cans.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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,<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="SFG02">Template:Cite news</ref> a feature designed by Hollywood set designer Harvey Allen Warren.Template:Cn

The boulders used for the inn weigh up to Template:Convert for the exterior and Template:Convert for the interior.<ref name="ProgArch73">Template:Cite journal</ref> A Template:Convert boulder serves as a shared fireplace for the adjoining Madonna (#141) and Old World (#192) suites.<ref name="SFG02"/>

In 1973, there were five buildings on the Template:Convert site:

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Name Image Guest rooms Features
Gas station File:Madonna 0070 (2838686284).jpg —
Main complex File:Madonna inn (5642290062).jpg — Lobby, registration, restaurants, and meeting spaces
Unit 1 14Template:Efn Completed 1961. Rooms 101–115.
Unit 2 File:Madonna Inn (44464363211).jpg 14 Completed 1962. Rooms 116–129.
Hilltop File:MadonnaInnExt.jpg 82Template:Efn Completed 1969. Rooms 130–218. Ranges in height from two to four stories.

Aiming to cater to a range of tastes, rooms were given unusual names, amenities, and themes<ref name="rooms">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> such as "Yahoo" (#132), "Love Nest" (#183), "Old Mill" (#206), "Kona Rock" (#131), "Irish Hills" (#156), "Cloud Nine" (#161), "Just Heaven" (#184), "Hearts & Flowers" (#155), "Rock Bottom" (#143), "Austrian Suite" (#160), "Cabin Still" (#133), "Old World Suite" (#192), "Caveman Room" (#137), "Elegance" (#201), "Daisy Mae" (#138), "Safari Room" (#193), "Highway Suite" (#145), "Jungle Rock" (#139), "American Home" (#204), "Bridal Falls" (#140), and "The Carin" (#218). Some rooms are grouped thematically. For example, the rooms "Ren" (#167), "Dez" (#168), and "Vous" (#169) are a play on the French word rendezvous, and "Merry" (#164), "Go" (#165), and "Round" (#166) reference a carousel. Most of the themes were conceived by Alex and Phyllis Madonna,<ref name="NYT-Goldberger"/> and some rooms were designed by Disney artist Alice Turney Williams.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

RestaurantsEdit

The inn features four dining and beverage venues: the Madonna Inn Bakery & Pastry Shop, the Copper Café & Coffee Bar, Alex Madonna's Gold Rush Steak House, and the Silver Bar Cocktail & Lounge. The Copper Café is a more casual alternative to the formal steakhouse, while the bakery is noted for its signature pink cakes and confections.

HistoryEdit

The Madonna Inn opened as a motel on December 24, 1958, upon the completion of its first twelve rooms.<ref name="KoppelNYT"/> The Madonnas were so excited to have their first guest, they refunded his $7 room rental.<ref name="SFG02"/> Demand was sufficient to expand to forty rooms in 1959, and the main inn facility was constructed in 1960.<ref name="History"/> Reportedly, when architect Richard Neutra stayed at the inn, he asked Alex Madonna about the design: "Alex, you didn't have an architect here, did you? It's just as well you didn't because you couldn't have captured all the details if you had to draw them out. I don't know how you would draw these things and then accomplish them."<ref name="ProgArch73"/>

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In May 1966, the inn's original units were destroyed in a fire.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It reopened a year later, and by the end of the decade, all of the rooms had been rebuilt in the manner for which they are known today. There are 110 rooms.

In 1975, critic Paul Goldberger wrote an article about the Madonna Inn for The New York Times, bringing it to national prominence.<ref name="NYT-Goldberger">Template:Cite news Alternate link to republished article</ref> 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."<ref name="HarmetzNYT"/>

Hanna-Barbera Productions sued the Madonna Inn in 1983, alleging copyright infringement over the inn's "Flintstone Room" (#139),<ref name="ProgArch73"/> which featured images of Fred and Wilma Flintstone and the exclamation "Yabba Dabba Doo".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Room #139 is now the "Jungle Rock" junior suite.<ref name="rooms"/> According to a 2013 interview with Clint Pearce, president of Madonna Enterprises, the "Caveman Room" (#137) was originally the "Flintstone Room".<ref>Template:Cite interview</ref>

In popular cultureEdit

FilmEdit

TelevisionEdit

  • A 1994 episode of The Simpsons entitled "Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy" features a hotel based on the Madonna Inn, which includes a Caveman Room.
  • A season 14 episode of ABC's reality series The Bachelor, which aired on January 25, 2010, features pilot Jake Pavelka and the nine remaining women taking a road trip up the California coast, visiting the Oceano Dunes, and staying overnight at the Madonna Inn.<ref name="SanLuis"/>
  • In the season 5 episode of The Girls Next Door, "Happy Birthday, Anastasia", the cast visits the Madonna Inn. The episode highlights the Madonna Suite, the Old Mill room, and Alex Madonna's Gold Rush Steakhouse.

MusicEdit

Image galleryEdit

  • San Luis Obispo, California Madona Inn (11).jpg

    The waterfall

  • San Luis Obispo, California Madona Inn (5).jpg

    The hearth

  • San Luis Obispo, California Madona Inn (6).jpg

    Barroom, lounge

  • San Luis Obispo, California Madona Inn (7).jpg

    The fireplace

  • San Luis Obispo, California Madona Inn (1).jpg

    The fireplace

  • San Luis Obispo, California Madona Inn (10).jpg

    Restaurant

  • San Luis Obispo, California Madona Inn (9).jpg

    Restaurant

  • Madonna inn august 2008.jpg

    Restaurant

  • San Luis Obispo, California Madona Inn (12).jpg

    Lavabo, toilet

  • Madonna-inn-xmas-MCB.jpg

    Christmas decorations

  • Just heaven madonna inn.jpg

    Just Heaven Hotel Room

  • Madonna inn restroom (5641720565).jpg

    Waterfall urinal

See alsoEdit

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ReferencesEdit

Notes

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Citations

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Further readingEdit

External linksEdit

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