The Las Vegas Courtesan

 Mona’s Ranch is the first brothel on your left when you drive down the street towards the brothels. Next door to Sue’s, Mona’s is a larger house that has a full bar, massage rooms, and other VIP rooms available. Even though I couldn’t sit in the bar area, I liked the old wooden bar style and thought it was more appealing than some of the small funky bars I had seen in other brothels across the state. The parlor area is a small area right off of the bar with comfortable couches. Since there was only one girl that afternoon I didn’t get a line-up (holiday season again made the selection of girls low in Elko).

While I was waiting in the parlor area I got to listen on a conversation between the madam and a girl wanting to be hired at the brothel. She was explaining which tests she had to get done, where to go, and how much each part would cost. Each test sure adds up to quite a bit before you can even start working. She had to get these tests and be cleared before she could obtain her state health card and work card. I’m not sure of the exact amount of money that would be needed before a girl can work but I am sure it adds up to a few hundred dollars before day one.

Though I didn’t spend too much time at Mona’s and my timing really wasn’t great since it was an afternoon visit, it would be the one place I would stop into if I was in Elko again at the brothels. Since they had the nicest staff and girl in the city by far I think it deserves another visit in the future.

  This brothel was also hard to find information on before my trip, so I was surprised to see the “Open” sign on as I drove past Inez’s D&D. #1 Geisha is a street away from Mona’s and Sue’s but easy to find. I also didn’t know that this brothel was going through some legal issues due to a raid on some massage parlors in Seattle and California that were owned by the same people in Elko. Seems like a terrible idea to risk your legal business in Nevada over an illegal one in Seattle or California. I don’t know how much longer this brothel and massage parlor will be open since most of their cash has been seized and the county is going to revoke their brothel operators license due to the federal charges stemming from the Seattle case. You can read more about the brothel’s involvement here. I don’t blame the town or county for wanting to rid the brothel business of unsavory characters.

All the legal issues aside, I went inside and got the feeling that #1 Geisha was advertised more as an Asian massage parlor, also specializing in only Asian girls like Inez’s. The place smelled of incense and bleach, and the amounts were set by the house and were based on time. This brothel and Inez’s were the only ones on the whole trip that had house set rates and negotiating was cut out. At least at this brothel the girl was upfront about pricing instead of being so vague and strange like at Inez’s D&D. She explained that the minimum amount was $100, $200 for a half hour, $300 for a whole hour and $500 for 2 hours. Sounds like a pretty good deal since usually the girls only get to keep half at most brothels. I doubt this house split their money any differently. Either way, #1 Geisha’s days are numbered unless someone else steps in to get a new brothel license and takes over the building.

I stopped into Bella’s Ranch first since it was the nicer looking of the two brothels, and I also couldn’t forget Amanda Brooks’ and Mariko Passion’s stories about working there a few years ago. I walked in and found the bar lively with truckers, girls drinking, and guys who generally wanted to get out of the cold weather and into a warm bar. This was one place that I noticed the girls were actually socializing with the clients instead of keeping their distance like at some of the other houses I visited along the way. The bartendress was very friendly, and like I mentioned earlier, very helpful on the phone. She immediately had a line-up formed of four girls (normally more but the approaching holidays had some girls already leaving town to go home), and I got a tour from one of the girls. The building is similar to most of the brothels in Nevada: manufactured home or trailers pieced together which creates a somewhat confusing layout of the place. The interior was a little dated but not nearly as dated as Donna’s next door. They feature a jacuzzi room that was large and clean, one of the more (perhaps the most) professional looking fetish/bondage rooms I saw on the entire tour, and massage room. Besides the special VIP rooms mentioned, the girls have their own rooms in which they live and have fun in.

At this brothel you discuss private matters in their room after the tour, and I noticed they are more centered on selling time more than selling each act or fetish. Of course every girl was different and the two girls I talked to were very nice, accommodating, and willing to work things out.

Ely is the first town you come to when going northeast out of Las Vegas that have licensed brothels. It was once a thriving mining town but is now a quiet city with a large main street that runs through the center of town that’s lined with older buildings and casinos. The two brothels, The Stardust Ranch and Big Four Ranch, are surprisingly right off of the main street drag, but tucked away in a western corner of town. One of the ladies I spoke with said that even though the houses are in town, they are in an area that people would know what you were doing on this side of town if they saw you driving through since the street dead ends not too far past the Big Four Ranch. I was unsure from looking online as to which brothels were still in operation in Ely, but found that two are currently open and definitely the third, the Green Lantern Brothel, is closed but for sale. I didn’t realize how many brothels along the way would be dressed up mobile homes or manufactured homes pieced together, but the two in Ely are actual brick and mortar buildings.

There was something about the darkness of the night and the bright red lights at both houses that were reflecting off of the ice on the ground that I liked visually. It really gave me the sense of the old western town that still had it’s brothels in town, though tucked away, like it was originally a hundred years ago.