Detour Pit Stop #41: The Madonna Inn, California, USA
Shutterstock
The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo is possibly the most amusing motel for a pit stop on the legendary Pacific Coast Highway.
While a journey along California’s fabled Highway 1 boasts spectacular coastal views, an abundance of wildlife and the twists and turns beloved of keen drivers, there’s not much in the way of interesting places to stay. Vastly over-priced seafront retreats or identikit motel rooms are pretty much all that’s on offer.
But The Madonna Inn, situated in San Luis Obispo – at the intersection of Highway 1 and Interstate 101, midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles – is very much the exception to the rule. Opened by construction magnate and entrepreneur Alex Madonna (no relation to the pop star Madonna) and his wife Phyllis in 1958, the Madonna Inn is a veritable study in alternative motel design.
There’s the pink pseudo-Swiss Alps exterior for a start, but even this won’t prepare you for the Inn’s 110 individually themed rooms and suites. And we mean totally individual. Take, for example, the Caveman suite, which features a genuine rock pond, a stone shower with waterfall, stone-age clubs and a king-size bed that will accommodate “two primates”. Or, for young lovers, there’s the Romance room, with blue flocked flowers set against a “dreamy” silver landscape and an elevated bedroom area that “inspires a symphony of unspoken affection”.
Further rooms celebrate the Old West, Imperial China, antique cars and, erm, golf. Some travellers stop just to check out the rock waterfall urinal located in the men’s restroom. There are modern amenities too – a fitness centre, tennis and basketball courts (in hot pink, naturally) and even charging stations for your EV.
Über-kitsch Americana may not be for everyone – if Liberace had designed this place it would be his shining masterpiece – but stay at the Madonna Inn and you’ll definitely leave with a smile. That tends not to happen after a night at a Holiday Inn Express.
Words Luke Ponsford