As dual-branded properties become increasingly common, some interesting combinations are sure to result. One, just realized in Denver, is a pairing of two European brands recently joined under the rubric of Marriott: the design-driven Le Méridien, which has its roots in France, and the select-service, Spanish-born AC Hotels. For Gina Deary, co-owner of Chicago’s Simeone Deary Design Group, the creative, feminine sensibility of the former and the more masculine, business-focused sense of the latter offered myriad opportunities. “For Le Méridien, savoring the hotel space is part of the culture,” she says. “With AC, it’s more about coming in and out of the hotel quickly, using it as a place for brief meetings and breakfasts.” The two properties come together in the sumptuous Corinne restaurant, as well as the open-air rooftop bar 54Thirty, “where guests can drink while looking over the plains and at the mountains in the distance,” says Deary.

Both hotels turn to that setting for design inspiration, but neither relies on clichés. The 223-room AC takes a more muscular approach while eschewing the typical cowboy iconography. Instead, the locale’s distinctiveness is present in the lodge-like use of dark woods and cognac-hued leather walls. The nature theme reappears in art that populates the space and the sharp geometric forms that echo those of the mountains.

Le Méridien shares the mostly neutral palette of its sister property, but with an airier feel (think white and gray tones). Here, the crisp brightness of those snow-covered mountains dominates, with an après-ski aesthetic pulled from “alpine couture,” as Deary calls it.

This starts in the lobby, where carpets and tilework take cues from wool gloves and sweater patterns, chairs are covered in faux white fur, and a sweeping staircase rises to a crystal chandelier redolent of cracked ice. The midcentury-inspired furnishings are more delicate and “not as weighty” as their AC counterparts, Deary points out. “You perch on them, you don’t sink into them.” And while deep blue velvet and charcoal prevail in the AC guestrooms, subtler tints—such as icy blue-gray and blush hues—accent the 227 keys at Le Méridien, nodding to blue skies, green aspens, and the orange and crimson of the setting sun.

Deary’s favorite touch is found behind the reception desk, where an art installation merely suggests the profile of vintage skis. Upon closer inspection, however, onlookers realize the shape is created by more than 500 individual portraits of Marie Antoinette, painted on red backgrounds and encapsulated in acrylic boxes. “It hits all of Le Méridien’s notes at once,” she says. “It’s that femininity, it’s that French infusion, it’s that dedication to creativity and whimsy. It captures the entire spirit of the brand.”