West 49 St, Times Square

West 49th in Times Square starts off with a massive commercial building, the Spotlight and the Playwrights Tavern at 7th Avenue. There's not much to say about the commercial space but the Playwrights Tavern is a fun little place that showcases Irish work and the Spotlight is a very kitschy but kinda fun karaoke bar with a live band. It's kind of like Arlenes Grocery but for tourists. There are not many places I patronize in the neighborhood but I have been to the Spotlight a couple of times and had a good time.
The block at Broadway holds the Crowne Plaza hotel on the south corner and the Colony on the north. The Crowne Plaza is just another chain kind of hotel that I would never stay in but the Colony is pretty cool. If you're into sheet music and checking out how this area used to be as far as the art set goes, it's worth a peek. The Brill building is next to the Colony and it was also once a big music center. Buddy Holly met his wife here and Carole King, Bacharach and Neil Diamond all got their starts right here. The Eugene O'Neill Theatre and Ambassador Theatre are both on this block and they're big big Broadway power theatres that usually have musicals these days. I'm not a big musical fan so I don't go but the buildings are lovely. There are also a few hotels on this block that cater to the people who come into town specifically to watch musicals (in my opinion) so there's nothing exciting to report there. The Mayfair Hotel used to be specifically for actors of the Broadway so even though it no longer caters to that, it still has incredibly small (even by New York standards) rooms with not an incredibly small price tag.
Once you cross 8th, you're in Hell's Kitchen so that's it for the Times Square run, but it does pack quite a lot in, specifically, if you're here to visit. I wouldn't live on this block but if you want to see lights and Broadway, this may be your spot.