Bal Harbour is synonymous with luxury shopping, boasting brands like Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Prada at the family-owned Bal Harbour Shops, which opened in 1965.

That association is hardly a bad thing, but the tiny village north of Miami Beach wants to stand for more than just a high-fashion mall. Tourism director Carolyn Travis, who has a $1.8 million budget funded by resort taxes to promote the destination, is seeking to add more substance to the area’s style.

“People want experiences,” she said.  “Our goal was to be able to build more of that within our community.” Since the beginning of 2010, the village has added a children’s camp run by the Miami Children’s Museum at the Sea View Hotel to reach family travelers. It also introduced free yoga and Pilates classes on the beach for locals and hotel guests.

In October, Bal Harbour is starting a culture series that will include movies on the sand once a month, outdoor music performances every month and art nights at the shops, featuring the brands’ own art collections and exhibitions from local galleries and museums like North Miami’s Museum of Contemporary Arts.

The Bal Harbour village has contracted with sales and public relations staff in New York, Latin America and Europe; promotes itself at high-end travel trade shows and advertises in magazines like Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler and Departures.

A new St. Regis Bal Harbour on the beach is scheduled to open in June of 2012, will be the most privileged condo and condo/hotel in Bal Harbour Real Estate, bringing the number of hotels to three with just under 1,000 rooms. The former Regent Bal Harbour opened as One Bal Harbour in 2009, joining the 1950′s-era Sea View Hotel.

One Bal Harbor is perfectly designed 26-story luxury oceanfront condo, which was built in Bal Harbour in years, and One Bal Harbour Resort and Spa is a five star luxury boutique hotel with room service, concierge assistance and valet parking. There is also the fine waterfront dining and a world-class spa located within the hotel. One Bal Harbour considered to be one of the most elite projects in South Florida Real Estate.

One Bal Harbour Resort and Spa general manager Florent Gateau said he sees visitors, especially large family groups, from the Northeast, Europe and South America. Their main draw is the shops, he said, and the surrounding hot spots like South Beach. He said the guests are still coming back to the hotel with shopping bags — but they’re not going crazy.

“The spending pattern is still there, but people are being more cautious,” he said. They want to use their money for “something of real significance.”

Travis said the village wants people to stay in the hotels — but is also happy to have visitors who are staying elsewhere. This summer, shuttle service started on Collins Avenue as far south as Lincoln Road in South Beach, well-known for Art Deco elegance, boutique hotels, night clubs, shopping and luxury waterfront South Beach Real Estate, specifically in exclusive SoFi (South of Fifth) area.

The Bal Harbor village doesn’t shy away from placing itself in the larger context of South Florida, even if it means dropping some names. On Bal Harbour’s website, the greeting says: “Miami Beach to the south of us, city of Sunny Isles Beach (famous for most exclusive Sunny Isles Real Estate with luxury oceanfront condos like Trump Towers Miami, Jade Beach and Jade Ocean and beautiful beaches, bound by the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Intracoastal Waterway) to the north, not a single destination above us.”  You can read original article by Hanna Sampson at Miami Herald: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/22/1785467/bal-harbour-more-than-a-luxury.html#ixzz0xRfEBC65.

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