where to stay on Mont St Michel

My husband and I did a day trip from Paris out to Mount St. Michel, a few years ago. We didn't stay out there though. Personally we didn't think it was worth driving all the way out there for what we saw. It was in June and it was MISERABLY hot. We were glad we only did the day trip, as we felt that was enough. We booked it on Gray Line Tours.com. They subcontract the tour out. You can view the tours on-line if you care to. Coming out of the Mount is a pure tourist trap, with the tiny souvernior shops and junk. We and some of the other tour people just sat in a tacky restaurant and tried to cool off. There wasnt's any A/C out there. It is quite a climb into the Mount. It is a long, uphill ramp. We felt the post card photos look better than the place actually was. It is just our opinion though.

"... the best view" But you wrote, "ON" MSM. The best view is from a hotel or B&B on land. Sure, the sea and the mainland are fairly attractive, but do you really understand what your options are? You also need to specify your travel mode. I'd want a car for a B&B. The mainland hotels don't seem to me to have as good a view as I've read some B&Bs do. I also don't accept the necessity to stay at MSM, but opinions vary.

We stayed at Le Mouton Blanc: http://www.lemoutonblanc.fr/en Our room does not have a good view. The comfort level was acceptable. IT does have this stuffy, moisture in the air... The restaurant though was pretty delicious. From my understanding, most of the hotels are equally mediocre... as they know that the return rate is low. Benefit on the island: Summer night abbey tour is pretty awesome. The island dies down after 6-7pm, so it was really nice to be on the island with peace and quiet. Benefit on land: You can get a room with the view of the island.
Much cheaper. just my two cent.

I stayed at the same hotel as Frank, but in Nov. They have an annex across the street which is where we were. As far as view, it was ok..just the water. We totally enjoyed our stay and once the daytrippers left it was a whole different place. I know the view from the mainland is amazing, but if we had stayed there I would have been wishing we were on the Mont. We had a car which we parked in the mainland parking lot and took a shuttle across. It was really one of our most memorable experiences for me and my 14 year old grandson. He had a great time taking evening photos and wandering around as we had the place almost to ourselves.

Ditto....for staying on the island. We arrived at 4 in the afternoon on the 2nd of October, had a nice dinner and stayed at Le Mouton Blanc, which was just okay. It was clean enough, but the hotels here at 2 star....you're not getting the Ritz Carlton. With that said, my husband, son, and I loved it and glad we stayed. It was so quiet, beautiful, and intimate at night with no tourists....they had all left to go home. We had breakfast in the morning and left....just as people were beginning to arrive from the towns around. If we go again, I would stay outside the mount, as if you've done it once, you won't need to stay on the mount again, but it was a great experience and that's what we look for on vacations.

We stayed on Mont St. Michel in June 2011 and were so glad that we did!
What a great experience. There are a lot of stairs, so if you decide to stay there, pack light.

As Elaine stated, if you're on the Mont during "Rush Hour", it will be a nightmare (just like Carcassonne, in case you're headed there, too...) This is every reason to stay on the Mont, because the evenings are magical. I stayed at the MB, too, as Frank and Terry kathryn did. No hotels/B&Bs are particularly special on the mont, but really only sleep in them, so I'm not too fussy about that.

We stayed at La Terrasse Poulard, which is right under the abbey walls. Our room was at the very top of the hotel. Great view, but a lot of stairs to climb.