Well -- its no longer a terrible location! The Pigalle area has been gentrified!

And in it, is a new and jazzy boutique hotel: http://www.hotelpulitzer.com/index_en.php

Has anyone stayed there?

This is particularly for first time visitors to Paris: When you plan to book a hotel, in season or out of the main tourist season, find out the exact location of the hotel, and look it up on a map, or ask someone who knows (A good place ro ask is here on Bonjour Paris. Based on the number of members, some one has stayed there or at least knows about the hotel. Many hotels have a "catch word" in their name, exgerating a bit where they are located. These "catch words" could be Notre Dame, Opera, Montparnasse, also the term "Grand Hotel de.." does only indicate that it has more than one or two rooms, and there may be nothing "Grand" about the hotel (As a matter of fact I normally stay in a hotel that has 55 rooms and is named "Grand Hotel des .....", it is 5 or 6 stories high, like most of the buildings in Paris (due to the Napoleonic building code), nothing special about it, but I just happen to like it, and it is rated 2** only.
So check out the hotel you plan staying at (even if it is offerd by a tour company or a travel agent before you make your booking. Remember there are about 1500 hotels in Paris (not including the suburbs)!

BP Chuck