Hotel at CDG--decent, easy to get into Paris & back

I liked Citizen M, located near Terminal 3. I had a good dinner and an excellent breakfast there.

If you download the G7 Paris taxi app; it is so easy to get back from dinner in Paris back to your hotel.

The attached Sheraton is an excellent hotel. We've stayed there several times the night before flying back to the USA.

For a bargain, look at Holiday Inn Express on the same CDGVal shuttle line as most of the others. You can get all the usual US discounts there. Next door there’s aSpanish Melia -chain hotel with meals that are good for an airport.

nmdhoff,
I don't know if it still holds true, but the Sheraton at CDG is considerably more expensive than the other hotels (none of which are close to inexpensive) on the CDG Val line. However, having a hotel on the CDG Val line is worth the higher price in my opinion, for the peace of mind in leaving for your flight. The nearby hotels that provide an airport shuttle are sometimes problematic because their shuttle buses get filled up easily and are not, IMO, as reliable as the Val.

We always stay at the Novotel at Roissypole right on the RER and the CDGVAL trains; it is a budget hotel with a decent breakfast and quiet -- don't know if it qualifies as decent for you but it works for us. We have done what you are doing. Arrive in the early evening, go into town for dinner and a final stroll by the river and zip back for the night and the early flight. I don't know what time breakfast buffet opens, but that would be something to check as you need to be checking in for the flight at 7 am.