The Las Vegas Courtesan

Every so often I get emails, comments on Twitter, or read comments on articles that I was featured in that really come across as hateful or in general sex worker bashing. (Oh, like that’s really anything new.) Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion of prostitution and I respect that 1st Amendment right, however, it seems that since I am a sex worker then I am not entitled to my own opinion or to share my point of view of my line of work with others. Like I glorify it on here only speaking half truths, and maybe I really must hate myself, have Daddy issues, and was really forced into this line of work. Well, none of that’s true (I know the cynics will be disappointed!)

Since I stay up quite late at night, I typically wake up in time for lunch and sometimes eat out at places frequented by local corporate workers in their lunch breaks. I sit in a booth or table nearby and can’t help but hearing their ongoing, mundane conversations. Sometimes I don’t want to hear them, but that’s just too bad because I will be subjected to the woman bellowing out her latest bellyache about some other female employee or some other random drama back at the office. I sit there and I think to myself, is this what the average, anti-sex worker person wants me to do? Be just as miserable as this woman at her boring, dead-end corporate job? Who can’t even relax at a nice lunch for an hour and talk about anything else, maybe even something that’s nice and pleasant? I mean these people I listen to are average Joe corporate America with a “real” job where they go to some office for a set number of hours a day for a set number of days a week. All they can go on about is how they can screw over their boss or company (or government), instead of relaxing during that one hour off to eat. I sit there and think to myself, “If I had that job I would be so miserable and feel so trapped,” and yet in my current job I don’t ever feel that way. I don’t feel trapped, I don’t feel miserable, and I can’t beat making my own shedule. I know “they” all want me to feel that way, or “they” want me to come out and admit that my life is a wreck, but it isn’t, and I won’t ever let it be that way. Of course I have friends that really enjoy their jobs at corporations and the line of work they are in, and I am happy for anyone else who enjoys their job at the same type of place… It’s just not for me.

I had talked previously in a post about the dark side of prostitution and how it sickens me what people to do others with trafficking. There definitely are girls that need to be helped and pimps that need to be prosecuted for forcing anyone into prostitution. Yes, there is a dark side to this business, but there are dark sides to a lot of other businesses too. I recently read somewhere in a news article that the “happy hooker” is just a myth and it’s all a lie. No matter what we are all “victims” of “the game” (I really hate that term!) Sorry, but the girls I know are definitely not a myth and are not miserable. So please go help those who need the help (I would even like to help too), but don’t group us all into the category of being trapped or wanting out. I’m happy right where I am for now, and I can do whatever I want when I so chose.

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.

  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.