Columnist John Katsilometes: Casing party towns via the ‘Net

Monday, March 13, 2000 | 10:04 a.m.

John Katsilometes is the Sun assistant features editor. His column appears Mondays. Reach him at kats@vegas.com or 259-2327.

The concept started out of thin air.

Make that thick air. Thick Los Angeles air.

Kevin Wilkerson was walking with a friend to a Manhattan Beach, Calif., cantina with a friend who was about to embark on a trip to Amsterdam. The two had already been to Amsterdam (layered with its its own variety of thick, scented air) and knew the best night spots.

But both men about town knew their encyclopedic knowledge of Amsterdam was not gleaned from any reference book (such as an encyclopedia). Rather, it was from countless tireless, thankless and clueless nights spent combing the city.

"I said, 'It would be so cool to do a video of Amsterdam and show tourists where to go,' " said Wilkerson, a Southern California publicist and onetime sports writer. "We'd found all the cool places on our own."

Wilkerson's beer-quaffing persona then fell mute, and its entrepreneurial counterpart took over. He swiftly turned his attention to the Internet, where anyone -- from the neighborhood dipstick to a genuine business visionary -- can launch a website.

Thus was born www.PubClub.com, a website devoted to the tourist (preferably the single tourist with wads of disposable cash) determined to hit town running. Along with Amsterdam, locales posted on the website include Las Vegas, the Greek Islands, Toronto, Hong Kong and San Francisco. Long-term plans are to feature every famed city, region or event on the site and provide a first-person synopsis that delves deeper into a city's soul than stale chamber of commerce brochures.

Wilkerson sometimes spends two weeks feeling a city's pulse before filing an entry. He travels extensively through his work; he's employed by Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), the national organization that holds races in major cities across the country. While on "assignment" Wilkerson critiques everything from crowd size to service to cost to transportation.

What he's found, not surprisingly, is Las Vegas is an elite night-life city, tops in the nation. "If I could go to just two places, they would be Amsterdam and Las Vegas," Wilkerson, a youthful 40 and single, said.

In Wilkerson's extensive experience it's more than the chic nightclubs in every new major Strip hotel that set Las Vegas apart. It's tucked-away spots such as Gordon Biersch, Moose McGillycuddy's, Tom & Jerry's and Tommy Rocker's. He's also impressed by the general friendliness of the service employees no matter how belligerent or demanding the customer.

"The attitude and professionalism of the people working there (are) amazing," Wilkerson said.

The PubClubbers plan to file reports on southern Florida, Los Angeles, Prague, Paris and New York. Critiques of the San Francisco Bay-to-Breakers distance race (a meandering party of 120,000 "athletes"), spring break in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Carnival and Mardi Gras are planned.

How Las Vegas stands up over time under the heavy competition is up to the chief PubClubber, who plans on continuing his quest indefinitely. We wish him, and his liver, nothing but the best.