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Home / Other Rooms / Bedrooms

More wacky and wonderful bedrooms from the Madonna Inn

pam kueber - Updated: November 5, 2020

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

old-mill-room-madonna-in

In my initial post about the Madonna Inn – the iconic 50s motel in St. Luis Obispo, Calif. – I showed five viva Las Vegas rooms. Today – some simply wonderful, kitschy rooms that throw in waterwheels, Flintstones fever, and lots of horsing around. Above is the “Old Mill Room” – I love its coral, chartreuse and teal mashup of color, not to mention the hot pink miniature mills. Now who thought of that?

Let’s always remember to: Not take ourselves too seriously with this decorating stuff… Click through for six more great vintage style bedrooms.


137-caveman-room

I think that Fred and Wilma Flintstone go in “The Caveman Room” (above). It matches Wilma’s hair.

139-jungle-rock-room

Barney and Betty go in “The Jungle Rock Room” (above.)  Zebra stripes look good against aqua, don’t you think?

country-living-room-madonna-inn

The “Country Living Room” above is not a wild and crazy room at all – and it looks like you could live in this space and never leave it. I love the copper hood over the fireplace.

tack-room-madonna-inn

The first of three horse-themed rooms. I love the bordello quality of this space above, “The Tack Room.”

pony-room-madonna-inn

Notice the light fixtures in the “Pony Room” above: A round disco-y ball at the far left, a mini wagon-wheel (?) hanging in the ceiling, and two colonial lantern sconces flanking the bed in the foreground.

chestnut-foal-room-madonna-inn

Not sure about sleeping under a pony here in “The Chestnut Foal Room,” our last eye candy for today. I think that qualifies as bad feng shui….but these folks definitely always get points for decorative imagination. Love the scalloped/painted trim around the front door (far right).

Thanks to  Susie and Peggy at the Madonna Inn for their help with this post and more inspiring bedroom images still to come. Here’s the link to the Madonna Inn – be sure to visit if you’re in the area!

CATEGORIES:
Bedrooms vacation spots, historic homes, museums

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22 comments

Comments

  1. Pat Gaylor says

    February 16, 2014 at 7:49 pm

    I’ve slept in the rock room and the water wheel room…such a great spot! After you get finished laughing yourself silly when you check in, the grounds are gorgeous, and the coffee shop is great. EVERYTHING is a hot pink, waitresses wear pink uniforms and aprons. They make gorgeous pink layer cakes and they’re put in lovely pink boxes and tied with pink string…wish I was there now ! If you ever get a change to go, DO IT, you won’t regret it

  2. Sara says

    February 16, 2014 at 7:06 pm

    I sure hope the “chestnut foal” is well attached…I’d hate to be sleeping under him during an earthquake! We’ve been to SLO a gazillion times but have never made it to the Madonna. My friends stayed in the Caveman Room on their honeymoon and said it was unforgettable for sure!

  3. Lori Maraviglia says

    February 5, 2013 at 12:27 am

    Fun to see my town featured on your blog. Yep, the Madonna Inn is a landmark! If your readers are in San Luis Obispo (SLO) tell them to stop by Baileyana Winery (www.baileyana.com), located in the historic Independence Schoolhouse built in 1909. Sorry, shameless plug on my part, I’m the wineclub coordinator there. Love your blog!

  4. Amy in Sacramento says

    April 15, 2012 at 4:58 pm

    Wow! My 19 yo goes to school near SLO — we’ll have to mosey on down to the Madonna Inn while she is there! While pulling old painted paneling off of the walls in our master bedroom we got a huge surprise: an entire wall is covered with a photographic mural of a beach! I’m SO keeping it!!! I plan to decorate the rest of the room around that mural.

    • pam kueber says

      April 15, 2012 at 5:10 pm

      YAY for photographic murals of beaches!!! Go with the flow, baby, go with the flow!

  5. Nancy PeBenito says

    February 3, 2012 at 9:27 pm

    Way over the top! I went to college at Cal Poly SLO so many visits to the Madonna Inn which included mandatory visit to the Men’s bathroom to see the large waterfall used as a urinal. Always a good chuckle.

  6. Amanda Brooks says

    February 3, 2012 at 8:37 pm

    I photographed a crazy psychedelic wedding there! we had all the best rooms. there was nudity and the cops came twice! it was fantastic!

    • pam kueber says

      February 3, 2012 at 9:09 pm

      good times:)

  7. dawn says

    February 3, 2012 at 5:15 pm

    i’ve stayed there 2 times. it is such a fun and wacky place. the rock bathrooms are fabulous. the whole thing is rock except for the toilet. the rock showers are awesome. it’s like taking a shower in a waterfall.

    like someone else said the restaurant is fabulous and the decor is so over the top and fun.

  8. Miss Crayola Creepy says

    February 3, 2012 at 5:09 pm

    The food in the restaurant is good too 🙂

    • pam kueber says

      February 3, 2012 at 5:11 pm

      good to know!!!

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