When kids day dream, they dream BIG.
Sky’s the limit.
Everything is bold, colorful, quirky, silly, fun– and nothing is impossible.
Expect the unexpected.
In a nutshell– that is the Madonna Inn.
In all of it’s PINK, flamboyant, kitschy glory, The Madonna Inn was our chosen mid-point for an over-night stay, as we packed up our family of 5 in an Acura MDX and trekked along the PCH from San Jose to LA.
While not billed specifically as a “kid resort”, it is undeniably family friendly and definitely taps into the a child’s imagination.
The Inn first opened up in in 1958 by Alex Madonna, with just 12 room and has since grown into a sprawling 2,200 acre resort with 2 restaurants, an infinity pool and over 110 over-the-top themed rooms, each decorated differently and more elaborately than the next.
From the Old Mill room’s Disney-esque vibe, to the Yahoo’s old frontier motif, or my personal favorite, the “What’s Left” room (which is decorated in exactly that… what was left from all the other rooms)– no two rooms are the same!
During our stay, we stayed in the Jungle Rock Room– complete with vines growing across the ceiling, tree limbs hanging over the bed, and rock waterfall for that morning shower!
The kids were in awe. It was like we had walked into a real life version of The Jungle Book.
When planning our trip we had heard so much about their famous Pink Champagne Cake– we didn’t care that we were exhausted, or that it was past 10pm– that cake was our first order of business when we arrived.
Slice of Pink Champagne Cake, $6.95
And… OMG you guys!– for the love of all things sweet and delish– if you are visiting The Madonna Inn, say yes to the pink champagne cake! I promise you won’t regret it.
With very low lighting and minimal windows in our room, when we were done noshing on sweet bites of heaven (which was approximately 2.5 seconds), we slept like babies… in a very quiet, peaceful jungle.
{For more sneak peeks at the rooms, Buzzfeed has a great round up of 25 ridiculously awesome rooms at The Madonna Inn}
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Fun Facts About The Madonna Inn:
The LA Times has dubbed the “waterfall urinal” in the men’s bathroom located in the Inn’s Gold Rush Steak House, “The most photographed men’s urinal” in North America – (Yup. you read that right, folks. ha!)
In 2010, the Madonna Inn was featured on “The Bachelor”– AKA, the season of Jake and Vienna.
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Overlooking sweeping views of the gorgeous San Louis Obispo hillside, the infinity pool is absolutely breathtaking. So before hitting the road again, we headed out to the pool 1st thing in the morning.
It was empty– SCORE!
Being early birds does have it’s advantages!
Both of the restaurants at the resort serve a standard American-favorites menu, and have touches of that Madonna Inn kitch & flair– like the shakers filled with pink sugar on every table at Cooper’s Cafe and the gorgeous hand-carved marble balustrade in the Gold Rush dining room that was inspired by the Hearst Castle (located is just 40 miles north of the Inn).
Bottom line, everything at this resort is over-the-top and worth exploring.
We had only one regret with the Madonna Inn, and that is that we didn’t get to stay longer!
