After a week in Miami Beach and the Grand Beach hotel, we left for Bal Harbour, which is another neighbourhood in Miami, located north of Miami Beach. We stayed there for the next 3 days.
Quarzo Boutique Hotel
We decided to book a hotel called Quarzo Boutique Hotel. It is a nice little, modern boutique hotel right on the other side of the Ritz Carlton. We chose this hotel, because it has studios and apartments only, which would allow us to cook at home most the the time. However, after staying in the very spacious Grand Beach hotel for a week, we were not really looking forward to staying in a smaller room with two double beds next to each other. Therefore, on our arrival, my mom’s friend paid for a room upgrade to surprise us, and we were assigned a huge (over 100m2), very luxury 2 bedroom suite! The hotel itself was very small, and it was not located directly on the beach so it had no beach view. The pool was also very small, but the luxury suite really made our stay exceptional.
The Beach
As already mentioned, the Quarzo hotel is not located directly on the beach, but there is a private pathway to the beach under the bridge, and it only takes like 3 minutes to get to the beach. There are free sun loungers on the beach for the hotel guests, which was a huge plus, especially since there is no resort fee in this hotel! In fact, it is the same beach as the one of Ritz Carlton. I am not sure if it was because of the weather, but the beach in Bal Harbour was not as nice as on the Mid beach, where the Grand Beach Hotel is located. I also think that the sand looked a bit darker on this side. On the other side of the bridge, there is another beach, a public beach and park called the Halouver Park. The beach over there is quite nice indeed, because there are no buildings, only nature, and the sand looks much whiter. There is also a foodtruck festival organised once a week at the Halouver Park, but unfortunately we missed it.
Ritz Carlton Bal Harbour
Unfortunately, there was not much to do in the area except from the Bal Harbour Shops. Therefore, during the day, we went to the Ritz Carlton, which shares its beach with the one of our hotel. We always ordered enough food and drinks to use the pool and the pool area of the hotel. It is indeed a very nice hotel, but as already mentioned, I prefer the beach at Mid Beach.
Bal Harbour Shops
The Bal Harbour Shops is a very exclusive shopping mall, but I can imagine it to be a nice window shopping experience for many and a great place to spot celebrities. The cars parked outside the mall were some of the most luxurious cars you could possibly imagine. There are also lots of beautiful tropical plants and ponds with turtles in the the middle of the mall, so the whole mall is indeed an experience in itself. There are also some very nice restaurants at the mall, which usually were completely packed. We tried the Japanese restaurant: Makoto, and the food was really delicious. It was expensive, but I guess that did not come as a surprise.
Besides the Bal Harbour shops, there is not much to do in the area. There were a couple of restaurants, but none of them looked too inviting. There were also not too many people present and everything looked very empty. I am not sure if that is always the case in this neighbourhood or if it was caused by the low season.
Bal Harbour Shops 
Bal Harbour Shops
St. Regis Bal Harbour
Another beautiful hotel in Bal Harbour is the St. Regis. This hotel really is a high-end luxury hotel: a completely different class than other hotels that I have seen in Miami so far. Outside the hotel, you could see cars such as brand new Maseratis and Rolls Royce convertibles! The golden walls in the hallway really make an impression. We came here one evening to listen to live music and to have some drinks at the bar. It was all fine, but again, there was very little people and the whole place was almost completely empty. It is a shame that such a beautiful place can be completely lacking people. Again, I think this might be due to the low season, but I found it strange either way. I guess most people prefer the tacky Ocean Drive after all.
St. Regis 
St. Regis
Is this neighbourhood worth visiting?
I would say yes if you can afford to go shopping at the Bal Harbour shops and stay at either the Ritz Carlton or St. Regis, and if you prefer to stay far away from people and all the craziness. Just be aware of that this is a very quiet neighbourhood with not much else to do. Of course, you can always take an Uber or a taxi everywhere, but personally I prefer the “Mid Beach” where the Grand Beach Miami is located. That neighbourhood is also quiet, but it is much closer to South beach (only like a 10 minutes drive away), so it is not as isolated as Bal Harbour. Regardless, I am happy that we got to explore this neighbourhood and that we have seen this part of Miami too.
Anyah Mroz 