It is hard to imagine a more perfect name for a gentlemen’s club than Treasures. The name encompasses both what the dancers are meant to embody as well as what they are there working to earn. Much like with gaming vs. gambling, I usually prefer topless bar to the more euphemistic gentlemen’s club. But Treasures really has worked at an exterior and interior meant to radiate a miniature Las Vegas casino resort-style class (which may not be where true gentlemen hang out, but whatever). Treasures has the blue skies with puffy clouds painted on the ceiling, plush chairs, hardwood furnishings and lots of over-polite service. There is also retail shopping (a lingerie shop) and fine dining (a steakhouse). Put some clothes on the ladies in Treasures, throw in some slots and table games, and you have a newer-looking Caesars Palace.
My primary reason for being at Treasures was to attend the Sin City Chamber of Commerce mixer. The Sin City Chamber was founded in 2004 by former members of a more traditional business association that would not accept as members certain legal adult businesses in Vegas. The group has grown to more than 500 businesses since starting up, and, most significantly, about 80 percent of the members are defined as mainstream businesses (including Las Vegas Weekly). The reason why is not hard to fathom. Las Vegas is not like other cities. Adult businesses are a significant part of the local economy to a larger extent than in probably any other city in the country. The deliciously luxurious layout of Treasures sure makes that point. But an even bigger point was made by the gift bag.
The bag was given to all of the approximately 200 attendees at the mixer and contained flyers and advertisements and business cards for many of the member businesses. Going through the bag showed just how thin the line between mainstream and adult can be in Las Vegas. Overwhelmingly the bag contained not porn but the sort of dull business cards and information that you would find at any networking mixer—promotions for computer technicians, real-estate agents, poster-makers, cosmetic surgeons, security and surveillance companies and banks.
Not that there wasn’t targeted marketing. My favorite flier came from a company that seems to offer insurance with a flier that brags about the different policies the company has written for clubs including: “Club with an assault and battery death claim, club with multiple liquor liability claims, club with sexual harassment and discrimination claims, club with multiple assault and battery claims, clubs with crime losses.” I want their client list to know what clubs to avoid!
Of course, at the center of all this sales effort by mainstream companies are the cash-rich adult businesses. This mixer featured the old-school adult-film company VCX, which relocated to Las Vegas about six years ago. Last year the company was picked by the Sin City Chamber of Commerce as the adult business of the year. And, at this mixer at Treasures, Marie McCray, 22, one of the stars of VCX’s latest film, Angel Face, was being honored as the Sin City Chamber of Commerce’s entertainer of the month.
Petite, attractive and very dolled up, McCray was greeted upon her arrival by a series of photographers shooting her as she struck a variety of suggestive poses. Afterward, McCray explained to me that she was from Indiana and that Angel Face is her first movie. As a result, this was only her second visit to Las Vegas. The first time was for the Adult Entertainment Expo back in January. Summing up her relationship to Las Vegas rather succinctly, McCray said: “I am here because of porn.” Interestingly, that made her an exception to the overwhelming majority of those present at the mixer, who simply wanted to make their wares available to adult businesses such as VCX, Treasures and, of course, the Chicken Ranch brothel where, on May 3, the Sin City Chamber of Commerce hosts an annual party complete with a golf tournament and a sanctioned chili cook-off.
After some time at the mixer, I headed down to the steakhouse to experience fine dining in a topless bar. The mix of restaurants and topless bars is odd. You could see the stage and dancers through an open space. And, while I was told the dancers had to be invited into the restaurant, in practice, dancers continuously wandered inside in lingerie, school-girl outfits and bikinis, introducing themselves to diners and making small talk and occasionally fishing for a drink or food or perhaps an after-dinner lap dance. It was very odd. And, the quality of the food is not going to panic anyone at a Strip resort steakhouse. On the other hand, my steak was better than any other food I’ve had at a topless bar. My companion found her chicken francese not to her liking, and the waitress promptly removed the $28 entrée from the check. No hassle.
After the meal, we finally explored the main business of Treasures: strippers. Despite the mixer and dinner, it was still early evening, and the club had yet to really fill up.
But the quality of the place was on full display. The back stage was intimate, with chairs surrounding the performer for tipping. But the main stage was something special. The stage has a stripper pole that changes colors, and there are descending stairs on either side of the stage like in an old Hollywood musical. The VIP booths upstairs are clean and have glass doors.
My companion has danced at other clubs in Las Vegas for the past six years, and she thought that Treasures was the nicest place she had ever seen here. I won’t go that far. Many Las Vegas topless bars since Club Paradise opened (as the first gown-only club) have struggled against the traditional seedy image of grind joints to make Strip tourists feel comfortable watching stripping, as if they are still in a casino. But Treasures is certainly the most successful at re-creating that casino feel.
Longtime contributing editor Richard Abowitz wrote the Skin column for this paper years ago; he now writes it on a biweekly basis. You can reach him at [email protected].
Photograph by Iris Dumuk