Staying on the Ile Saint Louis

It's considered a good location.

But views in that area, from your room/lodging, are tricky.

To answer your questions for yourself, I'd suggest you spend some time with maps, for example, Google Earth including the Street Views (little orange man) feature.

You asked whether there are better-priced hotels: depends on what you mean by "better-priced," of course you're paying for the Ile St. Louis location, so hotels not on the Ile could arguably be "better-priced" but wouldn't have the expensive locale.

You asked about a "great view of Notre Dame": This is a slippery subject. Most of the buildings in the neighborhood are of similar height, so whether you have a great view of Notre Dame would depend on several things: do you mean a view from your lodging, or from the street, or from the west edge of the Ile. One way to research this further is to use the Google Earth street view (the little orange man) to determine the approximate view from a particular place.

You mentioned being "right in the heart of old Paris." This is a difficult statement to evaluate, since each traveler would mean a different thing using the same phrase. One could say that all of Paris in the historical center is "old Paris."

We stayed in a great little apartment on the Ile St Louis for a week in 2007. It goes without saying that it is a very good central (and historic) location, but so too are the nearby Latin Quarter and Marais. In hindsight I would say it doesn't really matter, as long as Notre Dame is only up to about a 5 minute walk away. It is nice to say you stayed on the Ile St Louis, but it would also be nice to say you had a view of Notre Dame.

By better priced I mean less than 200 euro per night. If I can't stay on the Ile Saint Louis I would at least like a view of Notre Dame from my hotel room. And by the heart of old Paris I really mean 5 minutes walk to Notre Dame or Saint Chapelle. Hopefully this will help clarify. I had not thought about google maps and will check that out. Thanks.

The Google Earth app is especially good for trying to figure out what view you will have.
A view of Notre Dame, from your lodging's windows, in your stated price range--this may be more difficult to obtain than you might think.
Suggest you go to Google Earth, or perhaps Google Map will suffice, and put the little orange man icon (the Street View icon) around various points surrounding Notre Dame, and you will start to hone in on your objective. Then the next step will be to find what hotels or apartments might offer an actual view of Notre Dame, from the window of your lodging. This may be a bit of a challenge, to figure this out. In that part of Paris, because of the uniform building height, the best you might get is a view of the top of the western bell towers or the top portion of the spire.

You also mentioned, I guess as an alternative to a view of Notre Dame, a view of Ste. Chapelle, again a view from your lodging windows and in your price range. When you take a look at the Google Earth street view, what you'll probably see is that Ste. Chapelle is surprisingly difficult to see from any distance away from it, because it's set right down amidst the structures of the Palais de Justice; and most of the buildings around it appear to be government buildings, not hotels or apartments.

Try your dates for these three hotels. Keep in mind you do get Roland Garros tennis in May.
http://www.hotelnotredameparis.com/
http://www.hotelalbestmichel.com/
http://www.rivesdenotredame.com/

The Hotel du Quai Voltair has an awesome view - but over the Seine to the Louvre, not Notre Dame. We had a small balcony and it was great to watch the boats and bicycles and walk to The Louvre and just a bit further to the Isle.

Views are indeed tricky ... and possibly overrated. Our first visit we stayed at Hotel St Pierre in the Latin Quarter and found that if we leaned out the window and looked to the right we saw the Eiffel Tower in the far distance -- great view!! For about €70 per night. And we could walk to see Notre Dame in 10 minutes.

You realize that from the Ile St-Louis any view you have of Notre Dame would be of the back of the cathedral, right?

I think the Ile St Louis would be n absolutely lovely place to stay. I don't know how realistic a view of Notre Dame is -- would seem easier from the left bank "rive gauche" , something along the Quai de Montebello if something exists there.

You won't get a full view of Notre-Dame from the Ile Saint-Louis itself unless your hotel is actually on the end of the island and your room looks out on the street. I don't think there are any hotels in that specific location. And as said above, the view is of the chancel of the Cathedral, not the famous front.

I think the back is the prettiest part of Notre Dame but I don't think there are hotel rooms that overlook it.

I have never stayed there but the Hôtel Hospitel de Dieu has skylights with views of the spires of Notre Dame. Don't know how you feel about spending the night in a hospital though, even if it is a hotel! Can't get much closer to Notre Dame than that.

Thanks everybody for all the information. I've got a lot to decide on. I think I'm willing to sacrifice a view to stay on the Ile Saint Louis, but if I can't stay there I would love a view of something great.

Cobblestoneparis, www.cobblestoneparis.com, offers two apartments on the island. I am actually renting one for 8 nights at the end of May 2016.

My favorite neighborhood of all and my favorite place to stay is Ile St. Louis. I highly recommend it. You can't get more central, making it very easy to walk to a majority of the places you'll want to be.

It's like a little village in the very heart of Paris, surrounded by the Seine river and beautiful views. Has restaurants, cafes, pharmacies, post office, great shops, grocery store, produce shop with the best fresh squeezed OJ we've ever had, bakeries and plenty of locals who live there.

My hotel recs are:
Hotel Saint Louis en l'Ile
Hotel de Lutece
Hotel des Deux Iles

We've also stayed in two apartments on ISL and really enjoyed that, but it's a very different experience from staying in a hotel. I feel much more like I'm on vacation when I stay in a hotel.

For location it is hard to beat the Hotel Hospitel, where Notre Dame is practically at your doorstep. Staying there was one of the highlights of our Paris trip a few years ago. There is something special about stepping outside the hotel onto the front courtyard of Notre Dame, especially in the evening.

Have you considered staying in an apartment? My husband and I always stay in one when we go and find it more enjoyable than a hotel. I found on VRBO listing 5967. It is an adorable 1 bedroom apartment with gorgeous views of Notre Dame. It didn't work for us since the dates weren't available but we found another apartment on the same street. It is in the Latin Quarter, and not the Ile, but it might be a good alternative. We know the area and it is central to everything you would want to do in Paris. Good luck!

Best views of Notre Dame will come from somewhere not on the Ile, although if you're on the Ile (which you should) every time you turn a corner you'll see it. Pretty cool esp when it's lit up at night and you keep playing peekaboo with it.

Lutuce is not a bad choice, just beware of the infamous room 444 (we stayed in it and if you are of the right mind, it's hilarious)

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187147-d219994-r180324853-Hotel_de_Lutece-Paris_Ile_de_France.html#UR180324853

I just read the 1st review on TA from phred's link and it says rooms are tiny and elevator very small. Our room was plenty spacious and storage, shelves, desk, counter space in bathroom (which was large by European standards) really impressed me. The elevator was not small at all by European standards. 4 people could easily fit.

We loved this hotel and the other two I recommended above. And you cannot beat the location of ISL.

Susan, the thing folks need to remember about European hotels is that few of them were purpose built as hotels. They're either converted houses or apartment buildings. Did you notice how oddly the Lutece was laid out? I would be willing to bet they combined 2 separate buildings to come up with the one hotel.

Which is my way of saying, not only is each hotel unique, but each ROOM will be different. That's why it's hard to say Oh yes, this is a great hotel. It could easily have some very small, funky rooms that no one would care for. Even the big Belle Epoque sheds have a mix of nice and not-so-nice rooms, not always differentiated by price (as we discovered in Montreux).

Phred, you're absolutely right. I only mentioned our good sized room to counter "the room was tiny" review. We had a reservation at Hotel des Grandes Ecoles for a month in 1989.. our first room really was tiny.. when we asked for a different room the next day, we were given a huge room. So you're right. Every hotel I've stayed in all over Europe, since 1960, usually has every size room imagineable.

But I'm still comfortable saying Hotel de Lutece is a really good hotel. When making a reservation, people need to be specific and request what they need. If they arrive and the room isn't what they requested, they need to politely speak up.

Friends stay in the Hotel Lutece on the Ile St Louis every year. (I am an apartment person myself, and have never paid more than 150 a night.) But you won't get a hotel on the Ile for 200E or less.

Maddietravel's right. I missed the 200 or less post.

He posted his price point further in the thread.

I've booked the Hotel Saint Louis en L'isle. Got it for 205 Euro a night. Thanks everyone for all the input. I may still look around to see what else is out there. Now I just hope the Euro stays low or I may need to cancel.

That's great Michael, I'm sure you'll really enjoy the hotel and the location.