Why the Madonna Inn Matters
I am going to make a statement which I completely stand behind: The Madonna Inn is an important American landmark on par with the Washington Monument or the Empire State Building. Some may think of the San Luis Obispo roadside motel as a random piece of Americana kitsch or just a place to stop for a quick – and memorable – bathroom break. But the Madonna Inn is much more than that. It is a pure and utterly wild expression of interior design that, while it may come off as unhinged, it is completely unforgettable.
The Madonna Inn is a testament to a couple’s unique vision. Alex and Phyllis Madonna opened the motel in 1958 with just twelve rooms. Now, the motel boasts 110 eclectic guest rooms, each of which are individually themed from jungle to the old west. “I want people to come in with a smile and leave with a smile,” Alex Madonna once said.” It’s fun.” There is a wide range of curious and sometimes complex aspects to the rooms. The Old Mill has a working water feature, the Love’s Nest has a private turret, and then there are the infamous rock rooms which included the challenge of moving hundreds of tons of boulders to complete the design.
Nowadays, this would not happen; there would be meetings upon meetings, meticulous plans and detailed critiques of mood boards that usually accompany the creation of lodging design. The motel seems to have been created with copious amounts of freedom and wild abandonment of traditional interior design theory and even, sometimes, common sense. Some of the rooms feel dangerous, like the boulders in the rock rooms, and the unpredictability of sleeping in what looks like a wagon. The Madonna Inn is a lavish yet garish artistic vision of another era, and one that has die hard fans who don’t just spend time there, but spend loads of money in the motel’s gift shops to bring a little of that magic home; from one of their iconic crystal goblets, to bathrobes, dog carriers, and swim suits made with the bold floral pattern seen on carpet of their restaurant.
The author Umberto Eco, in his book Travels in Hyperreality, once said the Madonna Inn “has no artistic or philological pretensions, it appeals to the savage taste for the amazing, the overstuffed, and the absolutely sumptuous …” His writings on the motel are in the same chapter as his musing of Disneyland, which makes sense, both are locations where you can escape the day to day and live in wonder.
To celebrate our appreciation of The Madonna Inn, here are five of the most specular rooms to stay in. If you want to book, you can do so right here!
Vous – This room is wildly photogenic and has oodles of fans on the ‘gram. The striking wallpaper is unforgettable and who can resist a round bed?
Daisy Mae – The first thing that welcomes you when you get to this deluxe room is the stained class window of Andy Capp’s Daisy Mae from Li’l Abner. The interior is like a cave, but a cave decorated by Elvis.
Yahoo – This is the perfect room for someone who wants a touch of the old west. And no, the bed does not roll on its own.
The Old Mill – One of the wild things about this particular room is that the mill actually churns water!
The Madonna Suite – This suite is iconic, not only does it feature rock walls and one of their famous rock showers, but it boldly shows off with their classic floral print carpet. The carpet even inspired a whole line of merch from bath robes and slippers to literal carpet bags.