Sometimes, the smartest thing a designer can do is to refuse to gild the lily. Take 54thirty, the hotel bar that opened in September on the 20th floor of the Le Méridien Denver Downtown: Here, Simeone Deary Design Group (of Chicago) wisely focused on what was important—sweeping views of Mount Evans and the surrounding mountains to the west and Denver’s skyline to the east, seen from the bar’s namesake 5,430-foot elevation—and kept the 3,100-square-foot lounge simple and sleek. Go on a weekday between 4 and 6 p.m. to avoid a wait, order the Shots Fired cocktail (with tequila, house-made grapefruit-poblano soda, and chili-infused sea salt), and settle in for the sunset’s spectacular show. 54thirty.com