Apartment in Paris: Quartier Latin or Ile de St. Louis???

By the way, just to clarify, we're not going to Paris for the 4th time THIS year. :) This year, we are going to Paris for the 4th time in our lives. LOL T

I've stayed all over Paris and I like both areas very much, but my favorite neighborhood in all of Paris is Ile St. Louis. We rented an apt on Ile St. Louis for a month in 2010. Ile St. Louis is like a village unto itself. It has a good grocery store, a wonderful bakery on a street called Tournelle des Deux Pont Marie (which leads onto Pont Marie), a great produce store on same street with the best fresh squeezed OJ we've ever had, lots of fun shops, lots of good and not expensive restaurants, a pharmacy, a post office, ATM machine, our favorite cafe (La Flore en L'Ile), and Berthillon Ice Cream. Our apt was almost next to an elementary school which we enjoyed. We could hear them sing, play at recess, and see the moms waiting for their kids (just like here) at lunch and after school. We were also almost next to a beautiful church. We really enjoyed the feel of this neighborhood and the fact that it's surrounded by the Seine with beautiful views everywhere. There's a nice park at the east end of the island, as well as the one right behind Notre Dame. We were so close to the Marais, and the 5th, and an easy walk along the river to wherever. I highly recommend Ile St. Louis! Have fun wherever you choose!

We stayed in an apartment on Ile St. Louis this past spring for several nights. We loved our apartment and the location - for all the reasons that Susan listed. It was wonderful!

Stay in Rue Cler. You can't miss. There are lots of apartments for rent and a lot of English speaking residents. Rick Steve's recommended it to me and we loved it!

The ile st Louis is one of only two places we have stayed in Paris and i would choose to do it again.

I would choose the cheapest, as they are both nice areas ( and frankly have alot more personality then Rue Cler!) .
A view apartment is nice, but will you constantly look out the window, or will you appriciate a little more space more frequently. I would carefully compare apartments, it seems to me the one on the Ile would normally be more expensive, its a very desirable area.. plus you say its bigger then the St Michel one, so I would go over all the details. Does one have a/c and the other not( this is important for summer months in my opinion, and I would take one with a/c) does one have stairs, the other an elevator, and is bedding similar ( some studios have sofa beds) .

I have stayed in all of the above mentioned locations and prefer Ile St Louis by far. Ditto everything that Susan said.

Thanks to all of your for your recommendations! Today I went ahead and booked the flat at Ile de st. Louis. Super excited!!! This is the apartment, by the way: http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p677851a?cid=E_Inquiryconf_DB_O_20120923_propertyurl_text_LPROP Thais

The apt looks great... clean and bright. It says there's a patio, which is really nice, but strange there's no photo of it. The only negative for me, is that it doesn't come with a washer/dryer. Most come with at least a washer and that's important to me, but maybe not for you. The apt looks great though, and you're really going to enjoy staying on Ile St. Louis. Bonne Vacance!

Hi Susan. There is no patio, the apartment overlooks a patio/ internal courtyard though. I saw photos of it in a different website.
For me, for a short stay a washer and drier are not needed. I had one in the last apartment I rented and did not use it at all. So, to me, this is not an issue, but it certainly would be an issue for people staying longer than 10 days or so I suppose!

That apartment looks fantastic, but the listing is confusing. Why is there a neighborhood description for the Canal St. Martin in the 10th arrondissement?

Hello Figaro. I noticed this for several Homeaway apartments (i.e: they describe several apartments as being located in Canal St. Martin when in fact they are not). If you look at the map, you can see the ap. is in the Ile de St. Louis. I had communicated with owners of different apartments that had this problem and they all said they were unaware of this flaw and were going to speak to homeaway to get this fixed.

Looks like a nice place, maybe we'll try it on our next visit! As you must know, the 2d floor may well be the 3d by our reckoning, and there's no mention of an elevator. But the stairs will keep you fit for walking around Paris from this great location. We're uwed Homeaway in Paris and elsewhere and been pleased.

Dick, There is no elevator. Yes I am aware of the different count of floors in the US and Europe. :) In May we stayed on the 3rd floor (4th american) of a building in paris and we did't mind the stairs. :)