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.

 At last, some nice brothels! Patiently people have been waiting for me to say, “Oh this place is awesome! Everyone should visit here!” Finally, that moment has come.

Storey County is located only 15 or so miles outside of Reno-Sparks (and near the Washoe County line) on the Interstate 80. The World Famous Mustang Ranch and Wild Horse Adult Resort and Spa are the closest brothels to the second largest city in the state. I, like most people, get confused about the locations and proximities of the other famous ranches in northern Nevada, such as the Bunny Ranch, and assume that they are closer to Reno than Carson City. Mustang Ranch and Wild Horse are definitely the closest and by far the nicest brothels on my tour.

The first actual billboard sign I saw for the brothels (and only sort of advertising I had seen in the state) was right outside of Winnemucca. I think the signs were mostly for the World Famous Mustang Ranch and urged truckers and the like to stop in and stay a while. You can’t miss these two brothels at night because of the hundred or so affixed old-school red police car lights on top of the roofs of the brothels. You can sort of see these crazy lights on the roof in the pictures of the Wild Horse. Though the houses are a little distance from the south side of the freeway, they are easy to see and signs help direct you there with no problem. A nice guard greets you at the front entrance to the property, and as you drive in you notice both ranches share a parking lot so it’s easy to walk from one to the other. I started at the Mustang Ranch first then strolled across to Wild Horse to check them both out… I was happy to finally find quality brothels.

 

I have been looking forward to visiting the Mustang Ranch brothel for years. I don’t recall when exactly I had read the book “Brothel: Mustang Ranch and Its Women” by Alexa Albert, but I was really intrigued with it all. When I read it I hadn’t known the whole story to the final days of the Ranch with the previous owners, the federal racketeering cases, and the involvement of Joe Conforte. I also didn’t know that the brothel was reopening and had moved since the book had been written. I just wanted to visit the place and see what it was really like for myself. Finally that day had come on my tour! I originally had the address in my notes as the original location, about five miles north and on the opposite side of the freeway. After some research I had found out it was moved to the present location along with the owner’s other project, the Wild Horse Spa and Brothel.

I decided to go into the Mustang first. You are buzzed in through the front door and walk into a huge area that has a bar, tables, and is decorated like a garden with water fountains, trellises, and flowering vines. The ceiling is painted like the sky, which is a little cheesy, but was a nice change to the dingy entrances I had been in so far on the tour. Five to six girls were sitting around chatting in this area at the various tables and gave a friendly hello as I walked in. I sat at the bar for a minute and got the feeling that they don’t do line-ups here so much as you find the lady of your choice in this lounge area (there didn’t really seem to be an “area” for line-ups, either). At this time a girl pretty girl walked up, introduced herself and offered to give a tour… and what a grand tour it was.

She explained how all of the wings that branched off from the middle bar area were a part of the original Mustang Ranch owned by Joe Conforte and was air lifted to this location by the present owners. She said that they didn’t have some sort of permit or permission to do this move, and was subsequently fined $1 million by the state or county (although I can’t seem to verify this statement.)  I asked her, “Do they train you to know all of this information for the tours?” She explained that when you first come to the brothel they have a house book that explains rules, regulations, and history to tell clients on the tours. Interesting!

There are four VIP suites and four wings, but I’m not sure how many regular rooms they had for the girls.  With each hallway there is an iron gate restricting access with security codes, surveillance cameras, and sensors. One of the most original suites I saw was what she called the “Pretty Princess Suite”. Painted in pastel purple and other girly colors, she explained it was for guys with fetishes and couples. Another suite was dubbed the Safari room with a huge tub that had the faucet pour from the ceiling, sauna, and a large bed. She explained some clients get this room since it’s comfortable for an overnight stay with the lady of their choice. The other two suites were Asian themed and Hawaiian themed. I forget which room had the largest bed, but it was two California Kings pushed together. She said the largest party she had seen was about 15 guys who each had a girl on every area of the large bed… wow. You could tell the owners had spent a fortune on the nice furniture in every suite. No expense was spared in making this place look nice. There was also a Kama Sutra chair and a huge bondage bean bag in these rooms, and I think every suite also had a stage and stripper pole on the side. I didn’t see the bondage/dominatrix room, but apparently it is attached to a room that is a tribute to Joe and Sally Conforte (and isn’t generally open to the public on the tour.)

Similar to the brothels in Winnemucca, the Mustang Ranch has several negotiation rooms. In these rooms there are a few chairs, a side table with hand sanitizer, rubber gloves, wipes, and a lamp. Apparently this is also the room where any inspection of the genitals happens before any payment is made. The girl can discuss and agree on a price (there’s a $100 house minimum), but before she takes him to the cashier to pay and start time she must make sure the client passes inspection.

I really enjoyed the tour of this brothel and wish I could have spent more time here. I got a kick out of a little ghost story from my tour guide girl about how she had to move wings because of something “not feeling right” in her old room (other girls have had to move out of that hall as well). Another story of a client dying of a heart attack before she ever worked there, but ironically was not on the same hall that she felt was “haunted”. I had another haunting story told later to me from a girl at the Sagebrush Brothel. Maybe a cable channel should pick up a reality series about haunted brothels and the girls’ stories.

Out of all of the brothels, I think the Mustang Ranch would be the only one I would choose to work at if I ever decided to pursue the legal brothel route. Though the Wild Horse is also very nice, I liked the vibe from this brothel better.

I walked across the parking lot past some roaming cottontail rabbits after visiting the Mustang Ranch (hey, this isn’t the Bunny Ranch!) towards the grand front door of the Wild Horse Adult Resort. Inside I was a little surprised at the change in decor from the previous brothel. The area you first walk into is a dark green bar that resembles a hunting lodge with dark wood and stuffed animals hanging on the wall. Dark leather couches were scattered around the huge room and a fire place gave the room a nice glow. I think there was also a stage in there with a pole towards the other end of the room. There were quite a few girls scattered around the room and at the bar, some on laptops and some snuggled up in blankets chatting with each other. I didn’t get an official lineup, but the nice bartender asked me if I would like a tour and I could pick who I wanted to show me around. I have to say the quality of girls was higher than any of the previously visited brothels and the remaining stops on the tour. Each one said their name from their seat around the room and I went to the back for a tour after choosing.

They really seemed to make a difference from this front lounge and bar area from the back brothel area. There’s a door leading into a huge, bright room with high ceilings that has a ski lodge feeling with its wood beams and more stuffed animals (they must have a taxidermist friend.) This was the official lineup area and gift shop, she explained. I think around this time I realized maybe I got the wrong girl to give the tour. She seemed annoyed and wondered why I had pulled her away from her buddies in the lounge to walk around. I was told that there were 28 rooms for the girls to live in and 4 VIP suites that include jacuzzis and are decorated in different themes (though I was not shown them.) I was shown a smaller room that had a vibrating saddle that I had seen in porn videos, but I think I was only shown this room because it was towards the front of the brothel and she wouldn’t have had to walk much further.

This brothel also had negotiation rooms similar to the Mustang Ranch. I went in one to have a quick conversation and she told me the house minimum was $200 (I somehow don’t believe that the same owners would have two different minimums, though.)  I said thanks for the tour and the pricing information, but respectfully declined. She just seemed generally uninterested and I was somewhat off-put by her attitude for me to want to do anything. I still liked this brothel and the quality of the house, I just wish I had picked a more personable girl. Both of these brothels definitely were my two favorite on the tour and the easy walk across the lot from one to the other makes it that much better.