The Las Vegas Courtesan

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.

 After you cruise through Battle Mountain on the Interstate, Winnemucca is the next small town stop that contains two brothels: Villa Joy Brothel and Wild West Saloon Brothel. Winnemucca used to be home to five brothels on Riverside Street and was dubbed “The Line”. Now only two brothels are remaining and are surprisingly facing the interstate with a smaller billboard that advertised the Wild West Saloon. Though there are no easy signs pointing to the brothels from the main street, they are located mostly in town and easy to access. I was slightly confused about the names of the brothels that were going to be open before I embarked on the trip, I thought perhaps the Pussycat Ranch was still open or the Wild West Saloon had replaced it, but the final count was definitely two that were open and in business.

 Winnemucca is approximately 160 miles East of Reno and has some different laws than the previously visited brothels. In this town I was first introduced to the concept of a negotiation room that was purely for the purpose of figuring out a price with the lady that you picked out in the line-up. The same rule of “no ladies sitting at the bar” from Elko was also in effect here. The changing of rules from city to city is mind boggling, and not necessarily grounded in logic. In the end I liked the look of the brothels and placement in the town because for once I didn’t feel like they were shamed to the other side of the railroad tracks and could advertise to the passing freeway drivers.

 I liked the way the Villa Joy looked when I pulled up. It was inviting with a big window in front and a bright red neon sign glowing into the dark and casting the whole parking lot in a red haze. You could peer into the front room where you saw girls sitting around at a front table sitting in high backed arm chairs with an older style fringe lamp that gave off a red toned glow. In the background you could barely make out the full bar and a bartender. I don’t know if I would have gotten the same moody feeling if I had visited during daylight, but the red glow and front of the brothel made me want to go in and visit it first.

I went in and was greeted nicely from the girls hanging around the front. I somehow immediately noticed the CB radio tucked away near the window which is used to advertise and lure the passing truckers in from the interstate (their lot was definitely big enough for large trucks.)  If I remember correctly, there was a side door to a pool table room where some of the girls were hanging out as well. As soon as the bartender notified them, I had a line-up of four girls since I wasn’t allowed to sit at the bar and mingle (rule for visiting female clients only.) I didn’t get a tour since this brothel was quite small and the negotiations were all done in a front room to the right. This negotiating room was also dimly lit with a red tone and parlor arm chairs, but oddly a bed mattress and frame were laid against the wall like it was a storage area as well. Seemed odd and out of place.

The girl I spoke with was very pretty and nice, but seemed to be confused about her own pricing and what the house requires. There is a $100 house minimum, but they mostly sell time. She told me to “add a zero to the time” to get the price, but then she had a separate minimum price for 1/2 and 1/2 (half oral, half penetration) for men. I thought you sold mostly time? I guess she was covering her bases if the client was on a budget and to not frighten them with her original quotes. All in all I liked the quaintness of the brothel and the mood, but was turned off by the silly “no ladies at the bar” rule. I might have actually stayed and hung out if it wasn’t for that… oh, and I had a bunch more brothels to see that night.