Sex doll escorts and brothels offer safer options for intimacy, service owner says
Licensed business regarded as renting novelty items rather than illegal parlour
Kristen Dickson always wanted to own a brothel, but her new sexdoll escort service creates fewer legal issues. In fact, her Kamloopsbased rental service House of Dolls has a license from the city to operate as a home-based rental business for adult novelty toys.
Rather than using the dolls in her place of business, her customers interact with them at home. Dickson abandoned the brothel business model because Kamloops forbids so-called body-rub parlours, but as far as the city is concerned, what people do with novelty items at home is their own business.
“It’s a rental category, so it doesn’t matter if you are renting bouncy castles or any other item people rent,” said business licence inspector Dave Jones.
The annual licence fee is $196.40.
In Vancouver, Bella Dolls has been operating since early November as a sex-doll brothel, taking 30-minute bookings for as little as $90, though you can reserve up to two hours with a doll for $160.
Customers are sent the location of “Bella Dolls mansion,” where they interact with the dolls after they book online, according to marketing director Ally Chan. The most expensive of the four dolls on offer appeared to be fully booked for Friday and time slots for today and Saturday were scarce.
Dolls retail online for as little as $1,700 at Sex Doll Canada of Toronto, but range up to $3,800. Models from Real Doll cost up to $10,000.
But in Kamloops beginning Dec. 1, House of Dolls will deliver the lifelike, 30-kilogram sex dolls to people at their home or hotel and leave them for the night at a cost of $350.
“That price includes delivery, setup and pickup the next day,” said Dickson, who is married with two children.
“I think this is going to have real opportunities for people with disabilities and for seniors.
At its heart, House of Dolls offers an experience without the risk of sexually transmitted disease and without human exploitation, she said.
Interest in the service has been intense.
“When news got out, the traffic to my website crashed the server,” she said.
Dickson has five dolls ready to go and two more on order at a cost to her of about $18,000. The dolls vary in race, size, hair colour and physical characteristics.
“Zach, the male doll, will be the last to go into service,” she said.
House of Dolls operates in a kitchen-grade workspace, where dolls undergo a two-hour sanitizing process after use. The dolls have a metal frame with silicone flesh and realistic genitals.
“They are cleaned with antimicrobial soap and warm water from head to toe,” she said.
An internal camera and a black light are used to ensure no human residues remain, inside or out.