When I am on the road on a vacation I bring my laptop along to stay in touch as much as possible with my favorite blogs and to answer comments. Sometimes my computer time is limited, or Internet connections are slow, so I fall a little behind. Luckily, I decided to catch up with Susan's Branch's wonderful blog the evening before my husband and I were going to drive up to the San Luis Obsipo. While browsing a few back posts on her blog, I came upon her description of the Madonna Inn on her "We Love Pink" blog post. What a exceptionally fun place this is for anyone that loves the color pink!
The Madonna Inn, located at 100 Madonna Road, San Luis Obispo, opened for business in 1958. It quickly became a landmark on US Highway 101 in the Central Coast of California. The Inn was created by Alex Madonna, a successful construction magnate and entrepreneur, with and his wife Phyllis.
The pink begins outside the inn, but it can hardly prepare you....
...for all the pink inside!
According to Susan Branch, "Mr. Madonna made the whole thing pink because he thought Mrs. Madonna 'looked good in pink.' "
The banquets are pink....
...the tables and chairs are pink...
...parts of the bar are pink
...the carpet and decorations are pink!
Almost everything is pink!
As Susan said in her blog post: "the men’s room downstairs is so interesting, there’s always a line of women waiting to get in to see it!" No photo here, as I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise, but it is one of the fun, quirky features of the inn you would want to see!
The fun does not end in the inn's lobby, men's room, Copper Cafe, Silver Bar, The Gold Rush Steak House Restaurant, or the attached bakery and pastry shop. There are also 110 rooms, each decorated with a special theme. If you go to this link you can see the whimsical names of the suites and a photo of how they are decorated. To continue the all pink theme, the room "Carin" was the one to choose, but there are many rooms in other colors available. One room, called "What's Left," is a patchwork of fabrics, carpet and wallpaper collected from other rooms. If I had to chose, I thought Yosemite Rock was one of the nicest of the unusual rooms. Which one would you chose?
Thanks, Susan, for letting us all know about the wonderful Madonna Inn! I really enjoyed my visit!
I'm linking this post to:
Many thanks to all the blog hosts!
Posts
60 comments:
What a great place ~ I love that this couple's last name is Madonna! A little on the Pepto Bismol side but fun fun fun. Now I want to go see the men's room in this place. xo
Can anyone say "road trip"?
Thanks for sharing this great post.
Interesting, but a little too rococo for my taste. Never the less, an great piece of Americana- or California-cana!
Interesting to say the least! Each room must have taken a ton of work AND imagination. The one you chose looks like one of the nicer ones! I'm sure it made a memory!
Wow, Beverly would love it here! I have never seen so much pink in one place!
Happy Pink Saturday!
Best wishes,
Natasha.
I would love it as I would be in Bubble Gum PINK Heaven!! It is all so pretty!!
Have a Great Weekend!
Marilyn
Patsy!! This is a quick comment because I am sooooooooooooooo flabergasted by this hotel and am going through each room with my jaw wide open! WOW! That's all I can say, WOW! IT'S CRAZY!!!!!! I cannot, cannot get my head round the rooms!! WOW!!!
What a fabulous amazing find! thank you Patsy!!!
Take care
x
Well, I am certainly in the pink after reading this! Leave it to you to have me wanting to stand on line at a men's room...
It is really something, isn't it?! We bought two of the most amazing cakes there to celebrate my cousin's anniversary - towers of the most delicious cake, cream, coconut, lemon - my mouth still waters at the memory.
I would love to stay there just for the experience. Not only is the constant pinkness quirky, but the furniture/style is also so over the top.
That is certainly something you don't see everyday. I had no idea such a place even existed. Fun to see!
-Karen
Thank you allowing me to enjoy this lovely area with you.
Did you stay here and take these pictures? Did you eat here, how was the food? Wow, it is really something!! Love the restaurant, bar, and wild carpeted staircase!
As I sit here wearing my bright pink turtleneck, I know I need to add this to my list of places to visit. Pat, the pictures are terrific.
Very pretty!!
Barbie and Ken, please come and see. Have a great weekend.
LOL This place has been around forever. It really is very tacky though. It goes to show you that just because someone has money does not mean they have class. As many times as we have stopped here to look around I never heard about the mens room being a place of must see. They must have added something. Now I want to go again to find out :)
This place almost closed down several times but I was always happy when I would find out that they ended up taking care of whatever the problems were and kept open.
How wonderful! My Grandlittles would love this place! I am sooo ready for a road trip now.
And I bet it makes your skin all glowy and healthy looking when you eat in that restaurant! Woo hoo!
Hope your Thanksgiving weekend is relaxing and lovely.
Interesting piece of Americana! I once read that the color pink is irritating to men and that women shouldn't wear the color. Did you see many irritated men in the hotel?
Wonderful photos!
Best,
Bonnie
LOVE those pink banquets!!! What a great place to visit!! Thank you so much for the tour (you know I want to see that bathroom now!). Have a wonderful day, Pat! blessings ~ tanna
WOW...how fun is that...love all the shades of pink!
The Madonna Inn is a fun place to explore; it's definitely one of a kind!
Oh my goodness, what a fun post! Look at all that pink! Unbelievable! Thanks for sharing.
Cindy
Pat, what an amazing place. Definitely a Pink Saturday feature. ;-)
Thanks for sharing. ~ Sarah
Wow, what a special place. It certainly says pink. I love the stairs. Bbeautiful. What a great trip Pat.
Wow...that's a lot of pink! What a fun place to tour.
I'm thinking we should send Beverly of Pink Saturday there for a destination holiday!
Wow, that's a lot of pink! Not a color that I like, but you've got to hand it to them by doing things up in a big way. That's love ;)
I like that fireplace.Too much pink for me.I though of Pepto
Bismal also. Love to know what's in the mens room.
yvonne
we have part of the family living in that town.
From the pink booths to the lipstick colored bar stools...I loved every picture here!! It is now on my list for next time I get to the other side of the country. I hope you are enjoying the weather Pat!
♥, Susan
What an interesting Inn, it is such a gorgeous place, it's almost over the top and yet, it is pleasing to the eye, I think.
The Yosemite room sounds interesting.
Hugs, Cindy
What a fun place to visit. Wow, I never seen so much pink. Great photos. Thanks for the tour.
A very beautiful place! Lots of pink and it is all very pretty!
Wow that is a lot of pink. So interesting I can see why people flock to see it. V
So much pink!!! But it does look inviting! Wishing you well! Cathy
What a fun place to visit, what girl doesn't love pink!
Wow, what a fun place! You always share the best pictures, Pat! xoxo
Pretty pink place. They have arranged everything very neatly.
Wow somebody does love pink a lot! ^_^ It is very pretty!
MYM
What a fun place to visit! Kary from My Farmhouse Kitchen lives in SLO!!!
Thanks for stopping by! Where were you in NH? I hope you had good weather!
Wow, that's a lot of pink...
Thanks for sharing.
Have a wonderful week,
Markus
It is an amazing place. It looks even more over the top than when we visited in 1970. great PINK shots.
It looks like a Barbie house!
What a fun place. Different, LOL, but fun! Men's room? Pink urinals? Best bathroom I've ever been in was at the Crazy Country Club! Funny!
PINK HEAVEN... Amazing! I have to add that place to my must-see-before-dying-list! ;o) Moogie at the top had the right idea--any way of a bloggie gal-pals road trip to Pink Heaven?! Only in America... LOL! ;o) Happy Days, Pat ((HUGS))
Wow Pat almost too much pink for me. Very interesting though. Thanks for the photo tour. I am going back now and look inside. Enjoy your holidays time.
QMM
I'm so glad you posted this! We've been there many times in the past but now we just drive by on our way to Pismo. I think we forget how unique it is! The Madonna Inn and all of it's wonderful tackiness is something everyone who visits the area should see! Next time we drive down the coast I think we need to pay a visit again!
What fun! You almost need sunglasses to enjoy all of this bright color! You visit the most amazing places! WOW! ♥
Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Pat!
I am glad I got back here in time to see this Madonna Inn post...I had guessed you might be posting about this:) I have read about this fantastic place a lot on the web recently and I am dying to go there! Your photos of it are completely professional!
Oh what fabulously over the top place!! I'd love to visit.
Thanks again for sharing your travels with us 'stay at homes', Pat. :)
Oh what fabulously over the top place!! I'd love to visit.
Thanks again for sharing your travels with us 'stay at homes', Pat. :)
WOW WHAT A NEAT PLACE1 YOUR PHOTOS ARE BEAUTIFUL THANKS FOR SHARING.
What a cool place to visit. I like pink, but I do not think I would want to work in a place all day with so much of it. I know you were glad you got to see it. Nice job this week. genie
How fun is this! I just adore the tufted pink seats and the gorgeous carpet going up the stairs! What a fun place to go to.
Wow! That is a lot of pink! I, too, am now on the list of inquiring minds wanting a glimpse of the men's room!
I got a headache just looking at all that pink!
All I can say is... Oh... My... LOL!
Hi,
Thank you for your nice article on mille fiori favoriti. It will help me.
Thanks
Hi Pat....great post on the Madonna Inn! Wanted to mention that I had a Valentine's Party there for my twelve best girlfriends one year! I couldn't resist! I'm sure after seeing it you can see why! Everyone wore pink!
The Madonnas are joie de vivre in action!
Loved your photos! Thank you!
Amazing place and all the at color wow
WOW..this Inn looks amazing and I just love pink so I would just fall in love!! Thanks for sharing. I am having a giveaway on my blog and would love to see you enter!
Daisy~
my senses areon overload. between your and Bill and Diane, i am seeing bright colors right now. i would love to visit this place
Post a Comment