The Las Vegas Courtesan

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.

 I was unsure about the status of the Stardust Ranch since it had been closed previously, but had reopened three years ago under a new owner (this sort of ownership change seems pretty common in the brothels across the state). From the front it looks like a regular simple bar to hang out in that is open until around midnight to 2am depending on the crowd, but has a 24hour side door with a doorbell for after hour patrons who are curious to see a girl. The manager at this brothel was very nice and really made me feel comfortable and welcome. I got a tour from the one girl who was there (apparently another girl was on her way from Vegas to work), and she explained to me how interested patrons can get a massage in the massage room while she can negotiate her prices for a party. Though there seems to be no actual negotiation room (like some brothels are required due to local regulations), this is just a method she chooses to relax the clients before carrying on in a different room with a bed. I was also showed a VIP room with a Jacuzzi that I frankly would be scared of stepping foot in. Eek!

The house is small and quaint even with the bar, but seems like it would be easy to stop in at both Ely brothels just to relax and have a drink before you decide if you want to partake in fun with a lady.

 Almost directly across the street from The Stardust, the Big Four boasts to be the longest running brothel in the state since 1920. I found that this claim to fame was often gloated by a few other brothels as well, but I think this brothel has actually been in continuous operation at the same location since the early 1900’s while others have been sort of on again-off again since the late 1800’s but moved or changed names along the way. The interior does have an older charm with the wood stove and a time period mural behind the full service bar, but all of that charm was cancelled out since I got the most uncomfortable vibe from the woman tending the house/bartending. She showed me a photo of the one girl that she had working and mentioned that one other was nearby if she wanted me to call her to come over. With quite a bit of hesitation she finally called the one girl who she had in house and got a tour. At the back of the large front room with the bar is a dancing area complete with seats and a pole that then connects to the back hallway that contains doors to rooms and VIP rooms. This was the only brothel that I noticed that had the girls living in separate quarters than the party rooms. She explained on one side of the hall is where the girls live and on the other side is where the girls negotiate and entertain the clients. Towards the back was a VIP area with a Jacuzzi to which she mentioned some clients come to the house and stay for days at a time partying with girls. I asked if it gets busy there and she said it does, but at random times with no rhyme or reason. I asked who comes by to visit the most (I thought it would be more locals since Ely is pretty isolated) but she said it’s usually truckers and people passing through. She also mentioned that locals are timid and won’t even venture to that part of town. Besides the weird vibe I got from the madam, the girl I spoke with was very nice and friendly and if it were a different time of year (since December is so slow for them as well) there would have been more girls.

I was so curious about taking this trip and I am glad I got the time and opportunity to do it, finally. I learned a lot and it really made me see the differences in every city’s or county’s (sometimes ridiculous) laws, how the quality of the houses vary immensely, and how the one state in America where brothels are legal – Nevada – handles legalized prostitution overall. In some ways I was pleased by the businesses and the way they were run and in other ways I was disappointed by the quality of some brothels, their rules, and even their sometimes-remote locations. Information about the brothels on the web is spotty, as far as which ones are currently open versus closed down or switched owners, so I thought actually visiting each place would be the only way to verify which are currently open for business.

First of all, Nevada is a HUGE state. I have taken many a road trip before and have had many people tell me, “You know Nevada is a lot bigger than you think it is,” and I believed them, but the sparse population is what really blew me away. So few people live outside of Clark County (the county Las Vegas is in.) If my little calculations are correct, only 8% of the state’s 2.6 million-person population lives outside of Clark and Washoe counties (Washoe County is where Reno is located.) That’s crazy when you consider the tremendous amount of space in Nevada outside those two counties. It’s also sad that in both of these counties prostitution is disallowed due to the population size being over 400,000, which is written into the state law governing the control of the state’s brothels. The law leaves the other oftentimes-remote counties to decide whether they want or do not want to allow brothels. Surprisingly, Douglas County to the north of Clark County disallows brothels, and it isn’t until Ely (250 miles to the north in White Pine County and pronounced “Ee-lee”) that you find the first brothel in that direction. In fact, the route that I am going to travel is virtually counter clockwise, starting in Ely and ending in Pahrump.

The one thing that really became noticeable as I started visiting these houses is their location. Most all of the brothels are located in a tucked away corner, almost always on the other side of the railroad tracks (and I mean that literally) in these small towns. I got a real shunned vibe from their locations, as if they were banished to that part of town, hidden away for no one to see their sin and shame. Also, I rarely saw roadside advertising, except for along I-80 for the Mustang Ranch and one on the property of Wild West Ranch in Winnemucca (which had a view from the I-80 freeway.) Mind you, these towns are not thriving metropolises, but small towns that have an average population of 5,000 people. I understand the locals not wanting their property value going down due to a brothel in their neighborhood, but as one brothel madam told me, the only reason why you would be going to that side of town is to go to the brothels. So if someone saw you going to that side of town they knew where you were going, and of course, people in small towns notice these things. Most of the brothels had few, if any, signs pointing to its location. You had to be almost to the house for there to be a sign at all and usually you are on your own. Google Maps saved me many times and, if it weren’t for that, I might still be lost driving around the great State of Nevada trying to find my way. Some addresses I had were just plain wrong, and I found plenty of confusing directions, which I hope to clear up completely with each review and brothel profile. In fact, I used a GPS app to get the exact coordinates for the ones that are particularly confusing, and I will be updating that information into my Nevada brothels map.

In conclusion, after seeing every brothel that is in operation in Nevada, I’m glad that, on the one hand, in one corner of America there are legal brothels, but on the other – in a way – I’m sad to see so many of them so hidden away and so scrutinized and controlled by local government that they don’t seem so free and liberated after all. I had hoped to see more of America’s freedom in the Wild West poking through, but even in these very rural, remote towns, they were usually isolated and quarantined.

So over the next few weeks I will post a review and photos on each brothel as I virtually travel around the state to all 26 of the open houses. Yes… I said 26!