A significant portion of my novel will take place in a legal brothel outside of Las Vegas (Carson City? Reno?). I need to know what a John has to do to get in this place and how private his identity is kept. For instance, are several guys escorted in at once to choose their girl or is it more of a one person at a time type thing? Also, I can only assume that men pay up front for services...is this correct? If so, how easy is it to leave an establishment without being seen? Any light that can be shed on this subject would be greatly appreciated.
Asylum Goddess
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Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light. -- Joseph Pulitzer
50,015 / 50,000
Oct 2, 2007 - 18 02
I haven't been to one, but a friend of mine worked as a receptionist in one in Melbourne. Among the interesting things I learnt from her which you may be able to work into your story (even if they don't answer your questions) is that receptionists don't negociate acts with clients (that is down to the prostitute and the client to decide, the establishment simply provides a service in the form of the rooms, not the sex), prostitutes, if they dislike the look of a client will often claim he has an STD in order not to do business with him (even if he is clean they cannot be forced to), the client can then choose to leave or see if another prostitute will do it with him. The other thing I learnt was that the company that owned the brothel also owned a series of other businesses and that they kept a list of everyone that worked for them together, that way a former receptionist (or presumably prostitute) could claim in a CV that they worked for a temping company and the company would back up the lie and give a good reference, reducing the possibility that the time spent working for them would become a resume-stain.
The dinner party this came up at was needless to say very entertaining.
----------2003: St Augustine's Chickens (w)
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2005: The Exile War (w)
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2007: The March Beyond Progress
1,326 / 50,000
Oct 3, 2007 - 00 01
I lived in Vegas for years, and I think the only county that prostitution is legal in Nye county, which includes Pahrump, Crystal, and a few others. There is a very famous brothel in Pahrump, called the Chicken Ranch. (think the best little whorehouse in Texas). I went once to buy a T-shirt for a friend. My step dad went once to go to a lunch party. LOL, it was actually food, nothing kinky, they have a restaurant there. Weird place for one if you ask me. The place is set off any main roads. Also, Fox Limo service in Vegas does a run out to the Chicken Ranch. They will never tell anyone you were there, they are very confidential. The only way someone would see you coming or going is if they followed you there. It's open 24/7/365.
check this out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Ranch_%28Nevada%29
and this one:
http://www.chickenranchbrothel.com/
Also, here is another brothel in Pahrump, which is just as famous:
http://www.sherisranch.net/index.php
good luck, sounds like you have a fun topic!
----------75,201 / 50,000
Oct 3, 2007 - 02 09
nope, haven't been to, but had on in my last year's NaNo. It was total fantasy though (a scifi story) so I don't think I could help you much.
----------"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity." - Albert Einstein"
50,030 / 50,000
Oct 3, 2007 - 04 18
I have been.
It's quite easy to get in: you either make an appointment to see a specific lady, or you just turn up.
Assuming you turn up, you are taken by a receptionist to a curtained off area and some ladies come in and introduce themselves. A brothel will likely charge you a flat fee for a time period of 30 mins, 45 mins, or one hour, and this would involve mutual oral sex, massage and intercourse. As the ladies introduce themselves, you can ask about extras like fantasy (maid, nurse, etc), the use of toys, anal sex, kissing, etc.
When you make your choice, you are taken by the lady to a room, where she inspects your genitals. After you pass the check, you will discuss in more depth what you wish and you will give her the cost of the agreed time, plus extras. You are left to undress and shower as she goes and arranges with the 'madam', I'll say -don't know that specifically- that you have x amount of time with her.
Once the time is up, you are taken back to the waiting area and let out the back. If it's at night, they will ask if you want a taxi and order you one. You can even request they order you a taxi. If so, you will be shown to a small waiting room to wait.
Privacy is pretty much a standard thing. You are not allowed to leave your room if someone else is coming that way or leaving themselves. And exiting is pretty easy.
----------I bruise easily,
So be gentle,
When you handle me...
--Natasha Bedingfield.
50,354 / 50,000
Oct 31, 2007 - 00 12
hey asylum goddess
I'm a sex worker from Australia so I can only tell you what it's like here. Hopefully someone relevant to the area you're writing for will pipe up too.
First off - 'John' is slang and is mostly outdated. The word typically used these days is 'client'. 'John' also has a slightly disdainful tint to it, I think and most sex workers don't feel that way towards clients unless they do something to earn it.
May I ask why the novel is taking place in a novel? If it's becuase you're writing about a sex worker then I would strongly suggest you research this topic thoroughly so as not to misrepresent sex workers any more than they have already been countless times throughout history. ie: most sex workers I know who would read a narrative where the clients are referred to as 'Johns' by the workers themselves (rather than an ignorant other character) would roll our eyes and groan at the cliched hackeyness of it.
Anyway, the person above me gave a pretty good overview of what can be expected.
Clients can make an appointment, or just drop in.
Some brothels will have rules regarding conduct - ie, drunk and disorderly clients will be asked to leave. Clients who ask for unsafe sex services may also be asked to leave.
In a hustle situation, the client will sit in a sort of lounge room. There can be other clients in there too. It's usually set up with a bar, pool tables, TV,etc. The girls will all come up and talk to the guy and try and get him to want to go with them. The 'hustle'. Usually the receptionist will wait ten minutes for all the girls to do their thing then come over and talk to the guy and see if he's made his choice yet.
The hustle situation can often give a client an excuse to sit around for ages getting free drinks and a perve without actually committing to see a girl, then leaving.
Hustle parlours will usually have at least two private intro rooms for those clients especially paranoid or nervous about being seen by other clients.
The other,more common situation, is the intro room. The clients are usually in small private rooms, and the girls come in one by one and introduce themselves. As the above poster noted, this is where they can talk about extras or discuss anything special with the client. The client and the worker negotiate the service. The receptionist will come in and confirm who he wants to see.
The money part can happen one of three ways:
1. the receptionist takes all the money and gives the worker her share
2. the worker takes all the money upstairs in the room and gives the house its share (extras are usually exclusive to the worker)
3. the receptionist takes the house money and the worker takes her money in the room
unless a client is using a credit card he can give whatever name he likes, and even if he is using a CC he doesn't have to tell the worker his name. most workers use a fake name after all. discretion and privacy is pretty much assumed - there is often a screen over the front door and a back entrance/exit option for clients to go in and out of.
yes payment is always up front!!!!!!!
A reasonably standard service is oral on the guy, massage and sex. Many girls these days throw in mutual oral, but there was a time it was charged as an extra and some workers still do. same with kissing. Kissing is up to the individual worker.
ps: I use 'girl' often throughout this and need to qualify that - 'girl' is slang terms workers use amongst each other and I'm used to using it. However it is considered patronising for non-workers to use it.
----------Meet Cleo Ashford. She's a lesbian prostitute working in 21st century Sydney. She's also a vampire.
50,371 / 50,000
Oct 31, 2007 - 00 51
Prostitution's not legal in Clark, but it's legal in other counties besides Nye. There are a bunch of legal brothels near Reno. Reno and Carson City aren't outside of Las Vegas by the way, they're in northern Nevada and about 500 miles away. Really the only places 'outside' of Vegas that have brothels are Pahrump and Crystal and they are both a good 60 mile drive or more. I've been to Pahrump a few times (for other reasons) but I never did figure out where the brothels were! Here's an important detail for your story. Brothels are not allowed to advertise. If you're in the touristy Vegas areas you'll see tons of ads and flyers for 'entertainers' who will come to your hotel room. They are not prostitues. At least, you know, not legally. Supposedly they strip for you or something. The one ad you will see in Pahrump is a billboard for the Brothel Art Museum in Crystal , which just so happens to be attached to one of the brothels. So that's how they get around that law.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal%2C_Nevada
Parhump is kind of a neat place, still has some of that Old West feel to it if you ask me. It would make a good setting for a story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pahrump%2C_Nevada
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