The Las Vegas Courtesan

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!

Even though the small survey that was posted in the Las Vegas Review Journal late last month said that 64% of 405 people didn’t want prostitution legalized in Las Vegas (or Clark county as a whole,) there have been recent moves in the closest legal county next door to revamp two of the brothels out in Crystal, Nevada, since Dennis Hof of the famous Moonlight Bunny Ranch near Carson City bought them. There’s another brothel being built (wow when was the last time they built a brand new building for a new brothel??) south of Beatty. The two are in different directions when leaving Las Vegas but both businesses are in Nye County. I’m definitely going to have to add these stops to my brothel tour I want to take once they open!

I find it interesting that it took this long for Dennis Hof to do something in southern Nevada. His name and reputation are famous from the Cathouse series on HBO over the years and many local vistors get his brothels nearly 450 miles away from Las Vegas confused with the brothels located about 70 miles away. In fact I almost giggle when guys almost threaten me with a, “Well I’ll just go to the Bunny Ranch!” when they can’t agree on entertainment and a lower price. I say, “Ok you can definitely drive 450 miles one way if you want to!” That usually warrants the response of, “What? 450 miles?!” Nye County is also happy about the Dennis Hof movement since the previous owner of the brothels out in Crystal, Nevada, was convicted of bribery of a local commissioner (bribing a commissioner in Nevada? Never heard of such a thing!) These brothels in the county (if they have a certain number of girls) bring in an average of $126,000 annually to the county in fees! I also was digging around and found out each girl must pay a fee every quarter to the county as well. These fee figures vary by county, but in the end they bring a lot of money in to help out with county services (apparently the Veterans Association even gets a good chunk.) I’m curious though how the out-of-the-way brothels in Crystal and Beatty will do. The Denis Hof purchase is 17 miles past the turn off for Sheri’s and the Chicken Ranch while Beatty is a whopping 120 miles from downtown Las Vegas to the new location. The lucky thing about Mound House, where the famous northern Nevada brothels are located, is that they are one split hair away from the Carson City limits and 35 miles from Reno. The little community of brothels gets the advantage of being so conveniently located. That sort of convenience can’t really happen for Las Vegas to Nye County, so will these brothels ever be really busy out there? And why isn’t there another mini-community set up right on the Nye county border on the way out to Pahrump?

Though from my previous post on legalizing prostitution in Las Vegas, I wasn’t much of a fan of actual houses in a certain part of town, but really, if we had some sort of standardization then we wouldn’t be so criticized in the news like prostitution in Las Vegas was just running rampant and some random figure of 3,000 sex workers roaming the streets working here like this is the wild west. I don’t think a lot of people realize how much money the business brings in for the rural counties. In the end I think it could bring a better opinion to the sinfulness of Sin City and keep the shady operations, like the ones just shut down, from scamming our visitors.

So since my site has been redone I have added my email address and opened up for questioning about all things Las Vegas when dealing with the sex industry and escorts. Here’s one question I received and thought it would be a good idea to answer on here since this is a common question I have received when regarding couples:

“My wife and I will be visiting Vegas in a few months and have been talking about possibly contacting an escort while we are there. It’s mostly for her, though I’m sure I’ll enjoy it as well. We looked at some internet sites, and I remember receiving lots of those cards when I visited Vegas in the past, but we don’t really trust those contact methods. Consistent with what you were saying, I’ve always had a feeling that the girls in the pictures are not likely to be the ones they send. My wife and I are both young and attractive and I’m sure we could probably find someone at a club in Vegas. But we don’t really go to clubs, and I don’t think we actually want to establish a real relationship with someone while we’re there. We just want to have a little fun. Do you have any suggestions? Ideally, we would be able to check the girl out and maybe even set things up a little before we get there.”

I think there are two options for this type of entertainment when people are a little more on the nervous and cautious side when trying to book:
First, is of course looking online for people who specifically see couples and contact them about arranging a meeting. Most people don’t mind coming over to meet up and figuring things out from there as far as entertainment goes. I think meeting people in clubs around here can be difficult and time consuming and possibly a complete waste of time. You are right about most of the girls in the pictures being too good to be true, but if you suspect whom you are calling is an agency then maybe just give them a good description of the type of girl you are looking for. The only difference between an independent girl and someone through an agency is just a fee that you have to pay up front to get them there and naked. Other than that, there isn’t much difference.

The second option is the legal one: the brothels out in Pahrump. If you are still feeling unsure and want to be able to speak freely about what entertainment you both would like (hard to when you are in Las Vegas since prostitution is illegal) then I think the most confident way to go is to visit one of these places. It’s not too far away and they offer transportation if you contact the brothel ahead of time. Luckily they made it easy by putting the Chicken Ranch and Sheri’s Ranch next door to each other so if one doesn’t suit you, then you can walk next door to the other one. I personally have visited both properties and found that the selection of girls at Sheri’s is better. Each girl sets her own price so you have to talk to them there. I know girls personally who work out there and charge $800+ for a couples party (the more both of you are involved the more expensive it gets). I don’t think the cost will differ too much whether you call a girl in Vegas or you make the trip to Pahrump… but the only difference is Pahrump offers a piece of mind with safe, professional girls who you can talk freely and openly to. Also picking a girl from a group at the Ranch is sometimes easier than waiting for a girl in your room because if she shows up to your hotel and you don’t approve, then you don’t have to wait another 20-30 minutes for the next girl to show up… or have to call someone else entirely.
Of course I don’t want anyone to be discouraged from calling a girl here locally but if the technicalities of booking something and not knowing who, what, or how much bothers you then I’d suggest the brothels. It’s the only thing of its kind in the U.S. and I think everyone should experience them.
Hopefully that helped some people who are just nervous and don’t know what to do when it comes to finding someone to entertain a couple… and I hope I didn’t shoot my own business in the foot 🙂

Recently I found an article in the Review Journal about a school from Lynchburg, Virginia who decided to take a field trip to the brothels outside of Las Vegas. Not your ordinary field trip for sure. The class sounded like an interesting one though and consisted of examining how we all are consumers and what do we consume. They visited northeastern Nevada where they want to pipe water for several hundred miles to Las Vegas (a plan I don’t agree with for sure), some farms, and last but not least the Chicken Ranch Brothel out in Pahrump, Nevada (one of Las Vegas’ closest bordellos people can visit). Apparently the media got a hold of such a field trip and decided to join the 11 women visiting from the Virginia school at the Chicken Ranch. I wish I would have known because I would have wanted the tour as well! I have read the book about the Mustang Ranch by Alexa Albert and have always been curious to learn more about the legal side of prostitution.

Anyway why I mentioned this article is because I was slightly shocked at the women being open minded to such a discussion. One girl was quoted saying, “”People keep asking me if this has changed my opinion about prostitution. I’m not sure I had an opinion on prostitution.” She said also that she “found it hard to condemn the industry after seeing it in person.” Good article and I love hearing about normal people experiencing different things and having an open mind about it. Wish more Americans were the same way…  Here is some more legal Nevada brothel information.