If you've ever driven Highway 101 through San Luis Obispo, you can't have missed the Madonna Inn, perched on the hillside near the freeway, and painted in as many shades of pink (and white) as you can imagine. The gaudy gingerbread exterior belies an even more extravagant interior: 110 rooms, each with its own amazing decor, plus banquet rooms for intimate weddings & receptions, exclusive clothing, gift & wine shops and limo service. Recently the hotel added picturesque European-style pool, state of the art exercise room, and a day spa. The Madonna Inn is also home to the largest convention center on the Central Coast.
Founded by Alex and Phyllis Madonna over 50 years ago, this fantasyland offers a unique ambience, great food, and the most unusual men's rooms you'll probably ever see. The more famous of the two public men's rooms features a great stone wall with what looks like a bit of a waterfall oozing over it. When a gentleman "steps up," so to speak, an electric eye circuit is broken and the water begins to gush down the face of the stone, doing an efficient job of, well, what urinals do. The other men's room features a similar setup, only the surface is made of copper.
The Inn opened on Christmas Eve in 1958, with 12 rooms. Perhaps in the Christmas spirit, or perhaps as a means of stimulating future business, the Madonnas gave the rooms to the first 12 travelers for free. Since that time, the Madonna Inn has expanded and become a popular tourist attraction itself. The Copper Kettle Coffee Shop serves good cafe food (not inexpensive), and the Gold Rush Steak House, as you might imagine, provides excellent American cuisine focusing on beef dishes.
The Inn sits in the middle of a 2200 acre ranch bordered on one side by the freeway and on the other by Laguna Lake, a tranquil public-access natural area and park. The Madonnas raise both cattle and horses here, and in the spring the fields are filled with mares and foals.
Visit the Inn's website, www.madonnainn.com, for more information, room rates, etc.
Madonna Inn men's urinal, rock waterfall --->
Men's urinal, copper waterwheel ---> 
Interior: Lobby staircase ---> 
<--- Coffee shop counter
<--- Interior, "Merry-Go-Round" rooms (this one is "Round")
(Used with permission from the photographer, Scott Haefner, www.scotthaefner.com)
<---Exterior, early evening
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