Hellobee Boards

The last time we went to Paris we used AirBnB to find a great apartment. It was affordable and very centrally located.

We've stayed at the Plaza Tour Eiffel, which I believe is in your price range. I can't remember if it was near the Champs Elysees (I THINK it was) but the location was great, and it was really close to the metro so it was easy to get anywhere. We loved being able to walk to dinner, and it was in a safe, quiet, upscale area of the city.

we stayed at a really adorable hotel that was in that price range about 5 years ago in the marais neighborhood, which I personally prefer over the champs elysees--it's still walking distance from all the tourist stuff (esp notre dame, the pompidou, the picasso museum, etc) but a little more off the tourist map. http://bretonnerie.com/htm/eng/engindex.html

What about Hotwire? I used that for my honeymoon and we got the Pullman Hotel by the Eiffel Tower. The downside is that it was a big hotel rather than a cute boutique one.

@twodoghouse: we rented this fab one bedroom apartment while we were there. It's near Sacré Couer right across from the metro, view of Eiffel Tower with a small Juliet balcony, free wifi & intl calls and washer! This was in Sept 2010 and the nightly rate was under $150.
Let me know of you're interested and I can dig up the vrbo link.

And there's a wonderful crepe place down the street!!!!

I know that you are looking for a recommendation, but please do not stay at the "Best Western" located at the train station. They were so rude! Plus it was hard for us to find. I hope that you have a great time in Paris.

@twodoghouse: http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p286823?cid=E_OWNERINQUIRY_DB_O_20100909_propertyurl_text_LPROP

Good luck!

My parents stayed at the hotel Henri IV when they came to visit me, and really liked it

I'd recommend staying more towards Notre Dame and the Latin quarter, or by the Louvre, than out by the Eiffel Tower or the Champs Élysées. Notre dame is the dead center of Paris, and everything is equidistant from there. The Eiffel Tower is way over to the west side of the city- obvs you can get anywhere on metro, but more lines run through the area by the city center (right or left bank)

Westin/Starwood Properties

It sounds like such a fun trip! I was just checking Gilt for a trip we are taking this summer and they have quite a few great looking places available. I didn't look at how much they are reduced for Paris but for our trip is was about 40% less than the lowest price I could find elsewhere.

I stayed at a hotel called the Fertel Etoile last summer and it was pretty reasonable, just on the other side of the Arc from the Champs Elysees (you can walk through the tunnel underground and end up right there--like a 5 minute walk away). There's a metro station on the same block as the hotel and there's an Air France bus to/from the airport that drops off really close as well. http://www.hotelferteletoileparis.com/ Rooms were clean, breakfast was decent, all the main sights were reasonably close.