Paris lodging suggestions for family

I hate to tell you to buy a book, rather than give you advice here, but there is so much to tell a person going to Paris for the first time.
You should buy the Rick Steves' Paris guidebook, and everyone going should read it. It has all the information you need to eat, sleep, sight-see, and get around Paris. I will say that you should book you lodging as soon as you can.
Hope you have a great time.

Not to be a downer but you have waited very late to start looking for a quad room or an apartment in Paris. I have no idea what affordable means to you so an actual budget number would be useful. About 10 years ago, a very hard-working person posted a list of hotels with quad rooms on Trip Advisor and that list, as far as I can see, is still useful today: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187147-i14-k1554693-List_of_Hotels_with_Family_Quad_rooms-Paris_Ile_de_France.html. Given that this is a first trip, maybe focus on the 3rd though 6th arrondissements.

We just go back from Paris on Friday night and opted to rent an apartment through VRBO. Our kids are 12 and 9 and it was wonderful to have the extra space.

As a previous poster mentioned, you are leaving things pretty late so not sure what availability will be like at this point but I think that it is worth a try

I agree with another poster that it is quite late to be looking for lodging in Paris.

IN the past, I rented a 2 bedroom apartment in the lower Latin Quarter, near rue Mouffetard, on rue Claude Bernard that I enjoyed; it is called Le Lutece. I found it on myfranceVacationrentals.com I looked on the site, putting in some August dates and I only see one Paris rental available. It is worth a look though. I liked the location, more real people Paris and rue Mouffetard is great. many restaurants and food shops. The Monge open air market, twice a week is near.

I have used VRBO in the past with good luck, try that.

It may be difficult to find 2 queen beds in one room in Paris. You could try US brand hotels, like Best Western or Marriott and see what they have. There is also Citadines aparthotels; I have not stayed in one but know there is one close to the Eiffel Tower near the Motte Piquet-Grenelle metro stop (it is great location). I have stayed in Adagio apart hotels before, in Aix en Provence; it was decent; I had a studio but the one bedrooms might have a sofa bed. Worth a try. Make sure to look on trip advisor for reviews.

Enjoy Paris.

Apartments in Paris do not have air-conditioning.

Hotels do.

You can book a quad room in an Ibis, Mercure, or Accor. Sometimes there will be free breakfast for children.

As others have said, you're very late on planning this but I'll throw out this recommendation. We stayed at this hotel with our 2 young adult kids in 2009 http://www.familiahotel.com/index_en.html . Two years ago my daughter and her husband stayed there again.

I don't see the family room on their website, so you'd have to contact them to see if they still offer it.

Here's my review after our 2009 stay:

The room as expected was very small (about 12x14, not counting the little entry area). We had a four poster double bed for DH and I, DD had a day bed, DS had a twin bed. The room also contained 2 small nightstands, a small desk with a little bench to sit on, two straight back chairs (which we used to put suitcases on), and a dorm sized fridge (a third suitcase went on top). There was enough floor space between the twin bed on one wall and the day bed on the other for the 4th suitcase. There was also a wall mounted TV. There was a little anteroom when you first entered the room which contained a closet with mirrored sliding doors. Other than that there was no place for clothes. We didn't mind since we usually work out of our suitcases anyway. The bathroom was not too small and had a tub with a hand held shower wand which could be hung up to be used like a normal shower. There was no shower curtain but there was a glass panel which extended halfway the length of the tub and kept the water in pretty well. Soap was provided but no shampoo. There was a hair dryer but it was pretty useless.
The room was right off the lobby which was a little odd, but at least we didn't have to deal with getting the luggage upstairs. The room was air-conditioned which we turned on one night and it worked fine. If you need any help with anything be sure to ask during the day. The night manager is pretty useless for anything other than handing you your room key. If you bring your computer, internet access is free but a bit slow.
Breakfast was included, served in the little breakfast room off the reception area. Each person got some bread, a croissant, butter and jam, orange juice, and tea, coffee, or hot chocolate.
The neighborhood had plenty of inexpensive eating options and 2 metro stations nearby.

Correction "apartments in Paris do not have air conditioning, hotels do "

Should read " most apartments in Paris do not have air conditioning " but the three Pat has rented did have air conditioning .

However all were studio type apartments and would have been too small for a family of four .

You could try
http://booking.parisrentalsbyruben.com

They have a number of flats throughout Paris - some show vacancy mid August
Good company to work with. Good communication

That's the problem - you probably won't get the apartments pat had because they sell out quickly.
Most apartments do not have air-conditioning because residents don't use it - or worse, aren't permitted to use it after around 10 PM.
It you leave windows open at night, street noise makes it difficult to sleep

It's really too late to do any investigation on apartments, so I'd recommend an air-conditioned hotel.

I have spent a number of nights in mid-range hotels in Paris and air conditioning is not guaranteed. At this late date, you may be relegated to the higher end hotels which are great, but a bit on the pricey side. I have never been disappointed by the offerings of apartments using VRBO.

I recommend escaping from the more popular areas and seeking habitation in the 10th and 11th Arrondisements. These are areas in transition and are generally lively and fun. The apartment prices reflect the fact that they are not tourist neighborhoods, but are places where the locals live and work--note, they are not poor working class neighborhoods, but merely off the tourist radar while still being safe and comfortable places.

I have traveled with other couples and have never felt unsafe, and the experiences with apartments have convinced me that hotels really are not all they are cracked up to be.

Check out hipstersinparis.com for an introduction to the amenities in those areas.

We have stayed in inexpensive hotels in the Montparnasse area and they had AC -- of course you have to look for that when you book and not assume it, but hotels are increasingly providing AC because they can't compete otherwise.

Hotel chains always have air-conditioning.