The Las Vegas Courtesan

Elko and Wells both reside in Elko county, but are spaced 50 miles from each other along I-80. The actual city is a decent size and is the largest city between the Utah border and Reno along the Interstate. So if you need to grab anything along the way on your trip besides services from a girl, Elko is the place to go to shop for basic needs. The brothels are all quite centrally located in town not too far off of the main street through town, but reside on a street that dead ends at the railroad tracks and around some smaller homes. Elko has four brothels: Inez’s D&D, Mona’s Ranch, Sue’s Fantasy Club, and #1 Geisha, all on one block so that you can walk pretty much from one to the other without hopping back into your car.

In my general thoughts on local regulations I would have expected that Elko had some of the same rules as Wells’ brothels since they are in the same county, but I was apparently very wrong. The regulations regarding girls as clients are odd and really had silly explanations when I asked “why?” Apparently women can not sit at the bar, and can only sit in the parlor area or must go straight to the back if there is no parlor area like at Inez’s D&D. The reason for this rule is in the event that the brothel is raided by local authorities they wouldn’t be able to differentiate between the female clients and girls who are working illegally with no license on file with the county. This is absurd to think of since these are legally owned and operated brothels. Why would they have to constantly worry about being raided or harassed by local authorities if this was all legal? I am sure any other normal business wouldn’t have this constant fear looming over their heads like the brothel madams and owners seemed like when I walked in. It was as if they thought I had a SWAT team following up behind me as soon as I walked in the door and stood in the bar area for more than ten seconds. 

Elko was also the first and only place, that I can recall, where I noticed some brothels had house determined rates based on time and the negotiating was cut out. This seems like it breaks some sort of law as far as the girls being independent contractors by not being able to negotiate some of their own prices. All in all, Elko gave me a weird vibe as far as their service and how they treated females. I am sure this would differ if I had walked in and was a man, of course. Further in my trip I met one prostitute that wanted to go have some fun and ended up in Elko (either at Mona’s or Sue’s, I can’t recall). She claimed she had a great time even though their rules were a little odd. That gave me hope that I just had an odd experience due to the time of day/time of year of my visit.

  I went to Sue’s Fantasy Club thinking it would be open and in operation, but I still can’t figure out 100% what is their status. When I went by the house, it was early in the afternoon and there was no answer. I thought perhaps it was too early since the holidays were fast approaching or maybe they weren’t open because they didn’t have any girls available to work. Now their website is down and I found a recent article about a man trying to purchase the brothel, but was being denied by the city since he was unable to prove where his money to purchase the brothel was coming from. Does that really matter anyway? Obviously the man isn’t some drug runner, but looks like an older man that thought his cash was better kept in a safe than at the banks.

You can read more about the event of his license denial here. Of course if I find any new information or if anyone knows of any new information about its state then leave a comment.

 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.

Donna’s Ranch is the only other brothel located in Wells besides Bella’s, but also has a location in Battle Mountain approximately 120 miles to the West on I-80. This brothel is yet another one that claims to be the oldest brothel in operation in Nevada like the one in Ely, but this one boasts operation since the late 1800’s. I don’t know who really wins the oldest brothel contest, Donna’s or the Big Four Ranch. I guess they will have to duke that one out with the historians. 

As I entered the brothel I got a real uncomfortable vibe from the bartender and got a slight eye roll when asking for the line up. I think I had to repeat myself and then some other male patrons in the bar piped up wanting to see the girls as well instead of just drinking their beers alone. I don’t know if it was the fact that they only had two girls working that evening or what exactly was going on, but at last the girls came out and introduced themselves. The tour consisted of a little history of the brothel, mostly boasting about the old owner Jack Dempsey and showing the small room that he used to stay in. I’m guessing all of the girls of these brothels get a little training on the history of the brothel and what to tell potential clients on the tour so they have something interesting to talk about along the way back to their rooms. The girl took me back to her room, where she stays and entertains, to discuss any private details and pricing. This was one girl who didn’t negotiate at all, and really didn’t want to hear what I had to say or what budget I was wanting to spend. It was her semi-high half hour rate or nothing. When I tried speaking to work things out she cut me off and said, “Well thanks for coming by Donna’s!” I guess I will just see myself out, then!

Of course you can’t judge any brothel by one individual girl’s demeanor, but I really didn’t care for Donna’s after that. I did make note that they had a jacuzzi VIP room, but not much else. If I had the choice between the two and was stuck in Wells, I’d pick Bella’s first.