(Intro)

Sky: We all negotiate when we have sex, you know what I mean?  It's just, we're negotiating for money.

Lindsey: This is me, Lindsey Doe, at Sheri's Ranch in (?~0:10), Nevada.  Sheri's is a legal brothel where sex workers can have sex with clients.  A limo will pick you up in Vegas or at the airport, or you can drive to this luxury sex resort down Blue Diamond Road through the Red Rock Canyon.  When you arrive, there are two entrances, one to the sports bar allows you to come in, sit down, have a drink, some food, and be greeted by sex workers.  You can invite them to join you without commitment, flirt a bit, and then determine if you want to hire them for more.  

Alternatively, if you have a pre scheduled appointment with someone or would rather choose from a line-up of sex workers available at the time, you can ring the bell on door two.  I had an appointment.  

Sky: Hey.

Lindsey: Hi.

Sky: Come on in.
 
Lindsey: And this is Max.  They invited me into the brothel for a tour and interview about their experiences as sex workers, or courtesans.

Sky: Although our work cards actually call us courtesans.

Max: Courtesans, yeah. 

Sky: And I'm like, yes, I feel grew up to be Inara from Firefly.

Lindsey: Every sex worker at this brothel is an independent contractor.  They apply to do what's called a tour at Sheri's, a 1-3 week work stay at the brothel.  Then, if they're selected from the hundreds of applicants, they get tested for STIs, get assigned a private room, and start working 12 hour shifts until their tour is over.  Like hairstylists at some salons, they set their own prices, build ongoing relationships with their clients, keep their stations clean, and then after all of it, they go home, put on sweatpants, and watch Firefly.

The tour started with this menu of services meant to spark the client's imaginations.  You'll notice there's no pricing.  Sky explained that it's against the law to disclose the amount sex workers collect for their services in this video, but I can tell you.  I thought about changing careers for the financial benefits multiple times.

The first room on the tour is...

Sky: It's the only room in the house we're not allowed to have sex.  It's for a number of reasons, mostly safety and sanitary.  We are, of course, a legal brothel, so every single sex act that takes place here has to include a condom or barrier method.  Condoms and water don't mix.  They're not friends.

Lindsey: Down the hall, there's a BDSM dungeon, a sensual room for (?~2:07) massage, and my favorite, the voyeur experience.  It has an orgy size shower you can look at from the bed, which is surrounded by video cameras that will record a sex tape souvenir for you to keep.  Outside and across a beautiful courtyard with a pool and waterfall and mountain views are the hotels for guests to stay in and VIP bungalows, like this 1960s bungalow.  They're themed rooms all with big beds, living space, private baths, jacuzzis, and room service.  There's also a safari themed bungalow, a Roman palace, one that's called Arabian Nights, and a King Arthur suite designed to look like a royal bedroom.  There's even a crown and a tiara for role playing and yes, that's a sword in the stone I'm yanking on.

Sky and Max both lit up when they walked in these spaces.  The bungalows usually mean bigger budgets, fewer limits to time and activity, and so, more fun.  

Sky: I'll say, okay, well, if you'd like, the final stop on the tour is my bedroom where we can discuss pricing, services, things that you might like to do.  Would you like to go have that discussion with me?  If they say yes, we then go to my room and then once we've had that discussion, I say, oh, perfect, you're independently wealthy and you just want to spend all weekend with me.  Great.  Well, we're gonna start in playland and then we're gonna have the King Arthur bungalow the second day.  How does that sound?  Yeah, awesome, good, let's go.  And that's how that discussion generally happens.

Lindsey: Sheri's Ranch is known for getting the ultimate experience.  Next up, Sheri's Playland, a mansion for fantasy experiences.  Sex swings, steam room, sauna, another jacuzzi, there's a classroom with chairs for a whole sex party to start, and an office where you can play out boss and secretary.  Max and Sky demonstrated some of the technology put in place to sexualize the scenario even more.  The last stop on the tour is the girlfriend experience living room, a simple cozy room with a couch, video games, TV, and a chaise lounge built for many different sex positions.  

At this point, Sky and Max sat down with me to talk further about their jobs.  What happens after you decide where and what and how much?

Sky: First and most importantly, before we do anything, we actually do what's called a DC, it's a dick check, to protect us and to protect our fellow clients.  We're tested every single week, but we can't expect our clients to do that, so we just do a quick visual inspection.  Make sure there's no lumps, bumps, cracks, or critters.  Then we take payment, go down to the office, we book our party, and we go from there.  Generally, there's a little bit of set up time, so you know, you're gonna have to take a shower beforehand, and I have to set up the room or perhaps even get the bungalow to be unlocked.  Once we're all set up, we start the clock and go.  

Lindsey: Do more people pay for their pleasure or your pleasure?

Sky: At the very core of it, I mean, I don't know if you'd agree, but I think everyone's here for their pleasure and some people are just really giving, sexually generous people who find pleasure in giving others pleasure. 

Max: Yeah, I would say it's a little bit of both, you know, some people are more into how you're feeling.  Like I know it turns me on to turn someone else on and to please someone else and we have clients like that, too, and then we also have clients that are just really into their sensations and their pleasure, but I would say it's pretty individualized, like, you know, no two are the same.  No two experiences are the same.

Lindsey: Doesn't everyone want to do this?  

Max: Yeah, it's the best job in the world.  I say that all the time.  Like, we are very, very lucky to be here doing this work that we love.  Giving love to people and like, spreading great experiences so it is awesome.

Lindsey: What was your favorite experience?

Sky: Here in this room, me and my good friend Lily Lovecraft who also works here, we got to dress up like nuns and spank each other.  

Max: That's so fun.

Sky: Which was a pretty awesome time.  Bring me the wackiest costumes, please.

Max: Yeah, love to dress up.  

Sky: What about you?

Max: Well, actually, the last two days, I have had a couple really amazing clients and both of them, one was a couple and the other one was this guy that I met a place that I used to work at and he followed me here.  I used to work at another brothel.

Sky: Oh nice.

Max: And so they both came in two days in a row and we both had a really amazing experience in the bungalow and we had so much fun the first day, we decided to do it again.  So the last two days have probably been like, the funnest, most action-packed two days of my working girl career.

Sky: High five.  

Max: So yeah, that was awesome.

Lindsey: Both Sky and Max enthusiastically spoke to the rewarding work of reintroducing widows to intimacy, bringing people with disabilities to orgasm, offering the girlfriend experience to those too busy, too timid, or to over it, and couples who want to try a threesome or women who are curious about sex with women.  Sky and Max are people who have sex professionally.  They know how to read bodies and negotiate.  They really know how to please, and so some of their clients are looking to hire them for new or better experiences so that they're more likely to be positive.  

My experience with them was wonderful.  Thank you to Sky, Max, and Sheri's Ranch as a whole for making my time at a brothel so special.  I'm grateful to them for supporting Sexplanations and the education we want to share regardless of  social stigmas.

Sky: Hi guys!  Thank you so much for coming along, taking a look at Sheri's Brothel.  We showed you all the craziness you can get into here.  Hopefully you learned something, maybe opened your mind a little bit, gave you a new perspective on what we do for a living.  Yeah, hopefully we'll get to see you and until then, stay curious.

(Endscreen)