Paris St. Louis island

Ile St. Louis is my very favorite place to stay in Paris! The location is fantastic--it's like it's own small village in the center of the city! There are nice restaurants, a small grocery story, bakeries, cheese shops, etc. At different times I've stayed at Hotel du Jeu de Paume, Hotel du Lutece, Hotel des Duex-Iles and last year we rented an apartment on Ile St. Louis. Any one of the hotels listed in Rick's book is great. I can't think of any "cons" except for budget travelers, it can be a bit pricey compared to other areas of Paris!

Prices are also better for similar places to the south above Saint Germain (ten minute walk to Notre Dame). Ice cream is also sold in this area, but shops are not mentioned in the RS literature.

The big advantage of Ile St. Louis is the absolutely great views of the river at night in just about any direction. If you've got the bucks, go for it! Grub is cheaper and better elsewhere, however.

Ile Saint Louis is our absolute favorite neigborhood in Paris!! I completely agree with Sharon. The hotel rooms are not smaller than hotels elsewhere, and there is great food (our favorite cafe in all of Paris is there, Le Flore en L'Ile), and the least expensive restaurant we've ever been to in Paris is also there (Cafe Med - great food, and listed in Rick's Paris guide). Like Sharon said, it's like a little village...post office, pharmacy, produce store with the best fresh squeezed OJ I've ever had (and we live in California), in addition to what Sharon mentioned. We stayed at Hotel de Lutece last time (loved it) and on our last day went to get OJ for the last time and the woman there was sad we were leaving and wished us well, then at the bakery same thing, and the woman there filled a bag with pastries and gave them to us for free. We felt like we were leaving family. It's got very peaceful quiet streets and it also has fun, exciting areas. Love the pedestrian bridge with street performers. It's quintissential Paris to me. Love it.

If you can afford it,, go for it.. Rooms are small , its a very old section of Paris,, so not large rooms.. but so cute.

We stayed on the Ile St-Louis a few years ago and loved it. It was a great location for walking and we found many good restaurants and shops close by. I also agree that the room in our hotel was small but that is true throughout paris. We stayed at the Hotel St.Louis and while the room was small it was quite comfortable.