DRIVING through the dusty roads to the remote town of Pahrump, in Nevada, the signs that greet visitors boast ‘Welcome to Brothel Country’.
And in the heart of the desert lies Sheri’s Ranch – a sprawling plot where “any fantasy” can become a reality and sex workers have the potential to “make a million.”
For a hefty price, punters can indulge in threesomes, be ‘punished’ in a classroom or watch naked girls wrestling while couples can receive hands on ‘sex training’.
Documentary maker Ben Zand visited the infamous ‘sex resort’ and was stunned by the range of raunchy services on offer.
“You can get food, you can watch sports, you can get b*** j**s, it really offers everything,” he says.
“Maybe the world would be a safer place if we just fully legalised sex work everywhere.”
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Next to the grand piano in the reception area, there is a cash machine with a sign saying “Absolutely no refunds,” another insists “No Whining”.
Once clients have selected a girl – or two – they are shown an explicit menu of services on offer, including intimate massages, bubble baths, ‘Good old fashioned hot sex’ and girl on girl shows, known as Two Girl Parties.
Far from the traditional idea of a seedy backstreet brothel, the sprawling 20 acre ranch has a swimming pool, tennis courts and luxurious hotel suites for clients to stay. There is even a gift shop.
There is a rota of over 80 women, but the licence only allows for 25 to be available at any one time. Prices are so high that some can can afford to work as little as ten days per month – commuting from as far away as Florida, Hawaii, Germany, South Africa, Thailand and Fiji.
Prostitutes have been asked to play naked bowling, wrestle with other girls and even dress up as Batman and Robin for a superhero theme threesome.
And the high end brothel has seen so much demand from couples that they recently launched a two-night package for pairs seeking to spice up their sex lives with a professional.
Now at least one in five enquiries comes from partnered couples asking for threesomes, cuckold fantasies, and bedroom coaching from a bona fide professional.
“You can even get some sex training from your chosen Sheri’s lady so that you two can have some new things to try when you return home,” reads the Sheri’s Ranch website. Customers also have the chance to film their experiences and keep a copy.
The Couples Getaway Experience package includes transport from Las Vegas, 60 miles away, dinner and champagne at the resort restaurant, a “meet and greet” for couples to browse the ladies – for a $6,000 deposit.
High rollers can join themed parties, such as Togas and Temptations, and when the Formula 1 Grand Prix was held in Vegas last month, the brothel offered a Pit Crew Package for competitors, crew, and spectators.
Costing an eye watering $500,000 the experience included gourmet dinner and a night in the VIP bungalow with ten of their hottest ladies.
But film maker Ben spoke candidly with the workers about their lives, choices and common misconceptions about their industry.
He says: “A bunch of women just descend before me and I choose which one I want. I feel like I’m in a job interview – the world’s most intense job interview.”
Happily married Ben did not partake of any of the services, although one of the girls attempted to lure him, saying: “We’re all different flavours of ice cream and everyone chooses their favourites.”
Another tells Ben: “If you can dream it, we can do it. I’ve heard of girls acting out fully scripted scenes, I’ve heard of girls wrestling in butterscotch pudding in kiddy pools.”
If you can dream it, we can do it. I’ve heard of girls wrestling in butterscotch pudding in kiddy pools
Sheri’s Ranch sex worker
“The only thing that Sheri’s doesn’t offer is the back door.”
Startled Ben admits: “I feel like I’m just assessing somebody based on meeting them for three seconds then theoretically we’re going to have sex and do these super intimate things – it’s a lot.”
But he discovers that many clients visit the ranch because they are too nervous to fulfil their desires in real life.
He explains: “It’s a common fantasy to have a threesome, this is the place where we can easily make it happen, no awkward conversations in a bar or potential rejection.
“I imagine that is actually a huge part of the appeal. A lot of guys are super worried about saying the wrong thing or being misinterpreted, being rejected.
“I guess a lot of people are missing that sense of love and closeness.”
Erotic Care Givers
Some clients come to cuddle or chat, and the girls reveal that they feel ‘honoured’ when clients trust them enough to be vulnerable about their true feelings.
One tells Ben: “I do care for my clients, they make me feel valued and appreciated,” while another adds: “I do feel like an erotic care giver.”
Ben is not shocked to discover that for over 80 per cent of the clients, visiting the ranch is about more than sex – it is about satisfying an emotional need.
The film highlights the growing numbers of young men seeking brothels not only for sex, but for intimacy they struggle to find IRL.
Nearly a third of the clients at Sheri’s are having their first sexual experience with a sex worker.
“I’ve met a lot of lonely, frustrated young men so I can totally see the appeal of someone who holds their hand through the process,” Ben says.
Clients will often tell the women they love them, and have even proposed marriage.
Girlfriend Experience
As well as rooms dedicated to foot fetish worship, a cheerleaders locker room, and an office room to play out your sexy secretary dreams, there is also a girlfriend experience room.
Designed to look like an ordinary living room, kitted out with a TV, couches and games consoles, men simply come to watch movies, and talk.
The girlfriend experience is a popular request on Christmas Day.
One worker, Chasen, says: “Some of them are really craving connection. It’s fulfilling, it’s meaningful, there’s care, there’s respect. It’s complicated.
“Boundaries are essential to having longevity in this line of work.
“The common misconceptions are that we’re dirty, that we’re easy, that we can’t have actual relationships, just that we’re lesser.
“I wish they could understand the impact I’ve had on some of my clients.
“Loneliness can kill you. I have a client in a wheelchair so we come up with all these imaginative parties – like he’s had his own eighties themed prom, I’ve dressed as a warrior princess.
“Sometimes they get emotional right away, because men don’t feel heard. That makes me feel sad.
“I’ve met incels, they’re nervous talking to women.”
May the d***s be big and the wallets be fat
Cleo, sex worker
At the ranch there is also an elaborate dungeon complete with cages and a sex swing, and a classroom where the women role play as strict school teachers and punish ‘naughty students’ by spanking them with a wooden paddle and even making them wear a dunce’s cap.
This particular role comes easily for one worker, Chasen, who was a teacher before she landed her lucrative job at Sheri’s.
She explains: “I was living pay check to pay check, there was no job security, I wanted to make more money.
“I’ve always been the bold, adventurous type and I knew it was legal in this part of the country. Our salaries are the same as a doctor or a lawyer.”
Many of the workers pursuing financial independence were formerly highly educated professionals who have chosen sex work after traditional careers became unsustainable.
Lucrative work
Many of the sex workers are in long term relationships, some are married and have children, one is a former US marine corps veteran.
In Nevada prostitution is legal but only in towns with a population of less than 700,000.
In 1985 – the industry’s heyday – there were 34 licensed brothels in Nevada. The number now stands at 19.
The World Health Organisation has long called for sex work to be decriminalised, and licensed brothels offer some security and safety for those working there.
Ben says: “Places like Sheri’s Ranch are rare now. Nevada used to have loads but because of costs and growing competition from the internet there are only a few left, but there is actually evidence that legal brothels can actually be safer for the workers and for the communities around them than other forms of sex work.”
Ben meets the manager, Dena Duff who explains the strict rules of the discreet ranch which is popular with A list stars – although she refuses to name them.
You’re not going to die here – that is a reality for any girl working on the street
Dena Duff
Having run the venue for almost 20 years she insists all workers have STI checks every week, and there is zero tolerance for drugs or alcohol. There are hidden panic buttons in every room and burly security guards ready to evict badly behaved clients.
The safety of her staff is paramount.
Dena says: “You’re not going to die here – that is a reality for any girl working on the street. This should be a stepping stone into something else. It’s a hard business – the rejection factor alone.
“You’re not selling sex, you can get banged anywhere for free.
“You’re spending this money for the experience the ladies can give. The customers are saying I want you to see me, I want you to value me.”
Dena takes fifty per cent commission but reveals: “You can make up to a million dollars a year if you put your mind to it.
“We’re creating a safe space for them to run their business. It’s a lot of emotional and physical work.
“I would not excel as a sex worker. I would not have the patience to do what they do.”
Sex worker Tatum was training to be a doctor before she spiralled into drug addiction, and lost her daughter.
But she tells Ben that working at the ranch is ‘a childhood dream come true’ adding: “I’m not a magician, much as I’d like to be, vaginally.
Another sex worker Cleo admits: “This job can take an emotional toll on you but you don’t realise because you’re having so much fun.
“What I love about this job is you can make a life changing amount of money. I’ve had the most job satisfaction of any job.”
At a party celebrating her one year anniversary at the ranch, Cleo toasts the other girls saying: “May the d***s be big and the wallets be fat!”
HUMAN: Inside Nevada’s Mega Brothels can be found on ZANDLAND’s YouTube channel.