Our Stay at the Madonna Inn

We love traveling. Going out of the country to new places and exploring small towns is one of my favorite things, but it can also get really expensive (both with money and time). There is still so much of the US that we haven’t yet explored and I really want to start taking short trips within the US on top of our big vacations. We’re also so lucky to call California home and can do weekend adventures to all sorts of places.

One thing we both have an appreciation for are fun hotels. I love interior design and hotels can be the perfect place go a little more wild than you would in your own home. Depending on the type of trip we’re taking, sometimes the destination is the destination (and we want to stay in a nice, clean hotel in a good location, but don’t need anything fancy) and sometimes the hotel is the destination. You know what I mean?

I can’t remember when we first heard about the Madonna Inn, but as soon as we saw pictures we knew it was on our list of must see hotels and would be one of those trips we’d take where the hotel is the destination. It’s perfectly kitsch and over the top, not to mention only a 3 hour drive from us. The biggest struggle was choosing which room we wanted to stay in. If you aren’t familiar with the Madonna Inn, it’s a hotel in San Luis Obispo with a pseudo-Swiss-Alps exterior and 110 unique guest rooms – each lavishly decorated with a different theme (LOTS of pink throughout the hotel and restaurant).

We were only staying 2 nights and decided it was worth it to switch rooms so that we could experience two different guest rooms. After looking through all of the options again and again, I decided on two things. I wanted to have one of the rooms be more feminine (think pink and sparkles) and one to be more “rocky” and cave-like with a fireplace in the room to give us a completely different feel.

The rooms we chose were Merry (the pink glitter wallpaper is to die for) and Yosemite Rock. They were both amazing, but I have to say that I couldn’t stop squealing at all of the girliness of the Merry room. The room is a perfect circle, which is different enough on its own, but has floor to ceiling pink glitter wallpaper, gold and crystal chandeliers hanging from the vaulted ceilings and an over the top floral bathroom.

Where Merry was bright and sparkly, Yosemite Rock is dark and earth-toned. The walls are covered in big boulder rocks (as is the stone bathroom and “rock shower”). The best part by far is the in-room fireplace.

It’s also definitely worth eating in the restaurants and checking out the pools and the rest of the hotel. They are just as wonderfully gaudy as the rest of the decor. When we were there they were decked out even more for Valentine’s Day. They have gorgeous cakes and deserts as well.