i lived in paris for a few years, so know alot of more curious places to hang out/visit....if you're going on a package dealio, you wont have time to do much of it, though. and you'll be streamed toward the center of the tourist-city, which has its advantages (the stuff you're looking at/experiencing) and its disadvantages (mobs of people)...
here are a couple suggestions---personally, i dont like hotels very much, or at least not for too long a stay..and one of my favorite little things about paris is the food--but the stuff you can get at markets--and i like to be able to cook rather than having to go out to eat all the time all the time--so there's this magazine called "france-usa contacts" (fusac) that you can look at to find short-term apartment rentals or apartment exchange possibilities. that way you can control where you are in the city...
and paris, like most places, is a collection of neighborhoods.
they're quite different, one from the other---my favorite is in the 20th, around place gambetta, and there are lovely areas along menilmontant, where it starts to climb, just past blvd belleville i think. it's like a time-warp part of the city.
paris in august can be a drag, i found. the city still functions, but it feels empty.
o yeah---if you're inclined to travel around france, another option for places to stay is renting a "gite" or a little house. they can be really quite cheap--you can get them for a week to a month---you'll pay through the nose between mid july and the beginning of september, but you can go to the same places at the end of may, find in general lovely weather and not shell out too much to do it.
http://www.gites-de-france.com/gites/uk/rural_gites
this website is full of country options--you can chase links to find the city options. it's a great alternative to a hotel.