Central Paris Hotels for first time trip-few days in Aug and a night in Sep 2017.

There is an Ibis hotel right at CDG, no shuttle needed, for your one night stay.

I doubt you will find a hotel in Paris which would enable you "walk to most places", depending, of course, what you consider "most places".Using the metro is easy, and the bus system is really good. Someone here will recommend hotels at your budget ..... I always stay at cheap 2 star places.

We have traveled to Paris many times, most recently in December during the Christmas market timeframe. each time we have stayed in the Rue Cler neighborhood. All of RS recommendations in the paris book are good choices. Close to metro lines, easily walkable to major sites, good restaurants and a great neighborhood vibe. You will not go wrong in Rue Cler!

Forgot to mention that it is a fairly easy metro connection to CDG from Rue Cler. Helpful to download an app for the Paris metro and you can easily plot your routes to different sites, including CDG. Have a great trip!! When we were there in Dec., room rates were very reasonable.

We have traveled to Paris many times, most recently in December during the Christmas market timeframe. each time we have stayed in the Rue Cler neighborhood. All of RS recommendations in the paris book are good choices. Close to metro lines, easily walkable to major sites, good restaurants and a great neighborhood vibe. You will not go wrong in Rue Cler!

I know Rick Steves loves the Rue Cler neighborhood, but IMO it's rather out of the way for many of the sites that you want to see in Paris. My preferred location is in the 6th arrondisement, as close to the river as possible. We've stayed in that area several times and walked to most things. Second choice would be the 5th, followed by the 4th. Here's a list I put together a few months ago for a relative who was going to Paris for the first time:

Note on bed sizes: most will be doubles and will be noted as 140 cm. Queens are 160 cm, kings are 180 cm, both are uncommon

http://dauphine-st-germain.com/en/index.html - nice location, small rooms, well rated on TA and here https://www.oyster.com/paris/hotels/hotel-dauphine-saint-germain/

http://www.hoteldelesperance.fr/en/ - decent location but appears pretty basic

http://www.hotel-britannique.fr/en/ - not my preferred side of the river but looks charming, reviews are great, could possibly get in around $200/night

http://www.hotel-collegedefrance.com/en/ - good location, great reviews, could possibly get in around $200/night

http://hotel-diana-paris.com/en/ - good location and price, but the standard room is very small (about 110 sq ft)

http://www.hotel-grandes-ecoles.com/index-en.html - decent location, appears to have an outdoor space

http://www.hotelcaron.com/en/ - great location, true queen bed, many positive reviews, doesn't say what size the rooms are

http://www.grandhotelmalher.com/index-en.html - good location, modern showers, more modern rather than Parisian charm, room size not listed

http://www.mayet.com/ - more contemporary in style and location is further east and further from river but price is lower

http://www.paris-hotel-stjacques.com/en/ - good location, lots of parisian charm, rooms a little larger than some

http://www.hoteljardindecluny.com/en/page/hotel.2.html - great location, actual queens and kings available (avoid the classic room, it's very small), modern chain in appearance

Have a wonderful time!

Agreed, Rue Cler not central..don't stay near the Eiffel tower, you will see it once, maybe twice if going at night, but then I would recommend the evening boat tour on the Siene to see it..

At airport not near airport makes the most sense, although I have never done this in any city, I just get up an hour earlier and take a taxi to the airport...

As it is your first trip to Paris..heed all the advice here and fro RS himself...he was recently pickpocketed..his wallet on a Metro...so it will and can happen....as uncomfortable as it may seem keeping everything valuable under clothing is the way to go..a few coins and a couple of bills in your pocket..not your passport or credit card...you won't be using it often enough to justify losing it from a bag or outer pocket.

Bus # 42 and bus # 69 have great views...hop on hop off for 90 minutes, don't forget to validate/frank your ticket when you get on the bus.

Unless you are comfortable in a hot room look for A/C. Some hotels have it and many don't. For great walks, I think you want a room in the 6th (San Germaine) or 5th ( Latin quarter). When shopping websites such as booking.com, the last digit of the zip code is the arrondisement number. Take taxis for convenience or go exploring on the Metro or bus system.

I would recommend looking on-line at the Paris Metro map. You can select what's most appealing to you for sites, and then get a feel for which neighborhoods you might prefer. The Metro is very handy. Purchase the carnet of tickets (you can share). Personally, I like the Luxembourg Garden neighborhood the best, and there's an RER stop (Luxembourg) from the airport, so you don't need to transfer to a different line of the Metro with your suitcase.

The Paris Museum Pass (2 Day pass for you) is helpful to reduce your wait time in lines, and we saw more museums because we already had purchased the pass. Also, it was handy to have clean bathrooms available in the museums as we were out exploring the city all day.

Reserve your Eiffel Tower ticket as early as possible ahead of time on-line. The Seine evening cruise (just riding, not dining) is very nice to experience, too.

My favorite areas, and the most central, are the 4th arrondissement (Marais and Ile St Louis), the 5th (Latin Quarter) and 6th (St Germain). Using Booking.com is very good advice. Read reviews.

I love Hotel de Lutèce on Ile St Louis, the little island next to the bigger island where Notre Dame is.

We just returned from 10 days in France followed by an 11 day Baltic cruise. We stayed at the Sheraton in CDG airport on our arrival. It was centrally located in terminal 2. It was great to stay there after a long flight from the states rather than having to travel on to our hotel in Provence late in the day. The room was large and clean and had a great view of the planes coming and going.

The Sheraton was also so kind as to store a bag for us for 10 days free of charge. We needed the bag for the cruise but didn't want to haul it around France for 10 days. Luckily we were flying out of CDG again to head to Copenhagen for the cruise. Storing the bag at the Sheraton free of charge saved us over $100.00 in locker fees!

Hope this helps

Rebecca

Update: I ended up booking hotel Delavigne in the 6th arr. Thank you all for your input - I like that it is close to the water and a lot of the museums we will visit. Also has easy access to the metro. I booked hotel Ibis at the airport for that one night back - thanks for letting me know about it! I'll make sure to post reviews when I get back.