Here’s a playbook for designing a sports-themed hotel: Slap some jerseys on a wall, name the bar the Penalty Box, plaster the lobby with plasma screen TVs and watch the money roll in, right? Not so fast. Shallow, predictable approaches like these create forgettable guest experiences. Tasked with designing the interior environments for The Rally Hotel, adjacent to the Colorado Rockies Major League Baseball team’s stadium, Journey slid head-first into the heart of fandom, creating a guest experience that towers over the Mile High City.
The Rally anchors the new McGregor Square development in Denver, Colorado. Featuring restaurants, shops and a circular plaza with a 110-foot LED screen, McGregor Square is the city’s new locus for entertainment and leisure.
Deriving its name from an age-old baseball superstition — the rally cap — in which fans wear their caps backward to spark a come-from-behind victory, the 182-room hotel sits opposite Coors Field, home to the Rockies baseball team.
To at once convey the majesty of the surrounding landscape and the hotel’s respect for the game, Journey approached the lobbies, lounges, ballrooms, guest rooms and suites as luxurious yet playful extensions of both elements.
We began right where guests do: the reception desk, which is fashioned from lathed wood strips that reference bats. Top-stitched leather wall panels nod to the laces on a baseball. Guest rooms weave more narrative connections, with leather headboards and banquettes inspired by baseball gloves, perforated minibar and wardrobe doors that mimic metal lockers, and plaid carpets and mismatched-denim chairs — subtle details from old baseball movies and archival materials that resonate with PhD-level students of the game.
Impact
2024
#1 Rated Hotel in Denver by readers of Travel + Leisure magazine.2024
Best Hotel in Denver, U.S. News & World Report.2024
Best Hotel in Denver, Condé Nast Traveler.There’s no missing the majestic Front Range of the Rocky Mountains from any window, and our teams had the discernment to “step out of the batter’s box” when the views were the rightful star attractions.
The Rockies may be one of the MLB’s youngest franchises, yet they’re part of “America’s pastime,” a national obsession stretching back 150 years. Recognizing this, we gave collections of bats, plates, helmets, pennants and game balls the evocative appearance of museum exhibits throughout common areas. Lighting design imbues these objects with a sense of the sacred — and for true fans, provides yet another reason to choose The Rally Hotel.
This push and pull between excitement and restraint, past and future, results in a guest experience that lands beyond expectations. We’d like to think it’s an out-of-the-park home run.
A star of the Denver hotel scene.