100 people rush to take brothel tours

ENTICING: The brothel's Union St sign.

Open tours of a small-town brothel in Hawera earlier this month attracted more than 100 adults - from middle-aged to elderly.

Owner Nicky Hughes said there were five tour groups were taken through between the 11am and 1pm tour hours.

"Everyone was really keen and asked a lot of questions."

Questions ranged from how clean the "girls" were to what the safety rules were if an unsavoury character rolled up. "The client gets one warning and one warning only and that's it - they're out," Ms Hughes said.

The Union St brothel, named Shh ... Adult Fun Spot, is not only popular with locals. Because it is small and more relaxed, being in small town, a lot of truckies and travellers from out of town prefer it, she said. "It's not like city places where business is brisk ."

The people on the tours were given a presentation in the lounge, where they were served sandwiches, filled rolls and cake, she said.

The gold coin donation requested at the door was towards the Kai Kitchen Charity, which makes more than 30 school lunches daily for children in need.

There were three speakers: Nicky, Aileen for Kai Kitchen and Steve Crow (touted as the pornography king of New Zealand).

Six working girls were there and all were happy to stand up and answer questions, Ms Hughes said. "It was a public viewing to try to take the mystery out of sex work, and I think it worked well."

The questions were mostly about the safety in the industry, she said.

"At the small-town brothel, the clients really do get more for their money because there's no rush. Our girls are all very relaxed."

Ms Hughes, who is married with three children and is an apprentice electrician, decided to buy the local brothel a year ago. The brothel is actually an old upstairs apartment with three very attractive rooms, she said.

"We spent a lot of time doing it up."

The tours made $300 for the Kai Kitchen. "That's okay, but I was hoping for more."