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All the United States California San Luis Obispo Madonna Inn
AO Edited

Madonna Inn

A hotel and restaurant serving as the mecca of kitsch.

San Luis Obispo, California

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Dining room at the Madonna Inn   Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images
Entrance 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
August 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
August 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
2019 Visit   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Pink Flowers Everywhere at the Madonna Inn, 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Bring some more color into your home with a gift shop goblet.   Samir S. Patel (Atlas Obscura User)
Even the bathroom offers a lot to look at.   Omar Bárcena/CC BY 2.0
The waterfall urinal.   Samir S. Patel (Atlas Obscura User)
If this room isn’t bold enough for you, there are many other looks from which to choose.   Samir S. Patel (Atlas Obscura User)
Stain Glass Carriage Window, 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Bronze bust of Alex Madonna in cafe   Avoiding Regret (Used with permission)
The Madonna Inn, 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
The Secret Garden, 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Pink Golf Carts at the Madonna Inn, 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Old School Stain Glass Lamps, 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
August 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
August 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
Dining Room  
Animated neon sign at night   Avoiding Regret (Used with permission)
Building One   Avoiding Regret (Used with permission)
Entrance signage   Avoiding Regret (Used with permission)
A combination of unique architechture features   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
  jlord7 / Atlas Obscura User
  MtnLady / Atlas Obscura User
Kona Room, Madonna Inn, 2/2021   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
August 2019   ccesare / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Built in 1958 by Alex and Phyllis Madonna, the Madonna Inn is an exceptionally bizarre Swiss Alps-inspired hotel and restaurant that seems to celebrate all that is garish and tacky in human taste.

Writer Umberto Eco perhaps described it best, imagining the decor was conceived when "Albert Speer, while leafing through a book on Gaudi, swallowed an overgenerous dose of LSD and began to build a nuptial catacomb for Liza Minelli."

The Madonna Inn consists of 109 lavish rooms, all with different themes and names to match: Floral Fantasy, Jungle Rock, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Whispering Hills, to name a few. No two rooms are the same.

All the colors of the rainbow are employed, but pink is most notably favored, especially in the unusual rosy lobby dining room, furnished with bright pink booths to match the light pink tablecloths. Even the sugar on the tables is pink.

To fully experience this establishment in all its gaudy glory, male visitors should make a point of visiting the waterfall urinal in the lobby restroom.

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Published

June 19, 2009

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  • Official Site - http://www.madonnainn.com
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_Inn
Madonna Inn
100 Madonna Rd.
San Luis Obispo, California, 93401
United States
35.266029, -120.673677
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