News
A Spa To Make Even Alex Smile
Building Bulletin: San Luis Obispo's Madonna Inn later this year, the landmark resort will open to the public its $3 million spa project
March 31, 2007 - The Tribune
The Madonna family is spending $3 million on amenities at their famed hotel, said Clint Pearce, husband of general manager Connie Pearce and son-in-law of the late Alex Madonna.
The project, Madonna Springs, is under construction on a oneacre hillside parcel west of the inn. Matching its "Swisschalet, storybook architecture," Pearce said, it will have two outdoor hot tubs, an exercise room, a day spa with retail space, a 30-foot-tall waterfall feature and a $1 million, 90-foot-long pool.
Earlier plans for a snack bar were changed to include a yoga and Pilates room, he said.
The pool's 30-foot sloped entry will be "like walking into the ocean" minus the sand, said project architect Warren Hamrick.
The 109-room hotel currently has a guest-only spa for massages but no pool or hot tubs.
"Mr. Madonna would tease (that) he was afraid people would drip on his carpets," Pearce said.
However, the site has been graded for nearly 40 years and plans for this type of project have lingered for decades, he added.
Connie Pearce and Phyllis Madonna, Alex Madonna's widow, plan to make the day spa available to the public.
Owner: Madonna Inn Architect: Hamrick Associates Inc. in Shell Beach
Engineer: Taylor & Syfan Consulting Engineers Inc., Los Osos (structural): Wallace Group, San Luis Obispo (civil); Thoma Electric Co., San Luis Obispo (electric)
Contractor: David Scarry Construction, San Luis Obispo Value: $3 million
What's happening now: Building has started on the exercise rooms; poured foundations; framing to begin
Planned completion date: Late summer to early fall
- Tonya Strickland