Want to know what happened to Italy’s first sex doll brothel
Turin’s first brothel staffed entirely by cyber love-dolls opened on 3rd September 2018 but was operational for less than two weeks before the local council and municipal police closed it down. Citing violations of landlord laws and insufficient hygiene practices as the primary reasons, the authorities seized the sex-dolls as a precautionary measure whilst investigations took place into the infractions.
In this feature, we take a look at the company behind the brothel, what they are offering and just when we can expect this cyber-brothel to re-open.
The Lumidolls Brand
Lumidolls, the company behind the world’s first sex doll brothel that opened in Barcelona in February 2017, is the brainchild of owner Sergi Prieto. A former marketing consultant, Prieto, 27, has plans to send his business model global and already has another franchise operating in Moscow with a 4th location soon to be announced. With ambitions to open a sex-doll brothel in the UK soon, British punters will be interested to see where the next venue is situated. There is already a Lovedoll showroom in Gateshead, UK where customers can trial the company’s products before purchase.
Lumidolls believes that offering love dolls in place of prostitutes offers a safer way to pay for sex and allows customers, looking to invest in these expensive sex toys, to ‘try before they buy’. In this way, the brothels are as much of a showroom as they are a house of prostitution.
Customers can also buy any one of the company’s range of 70 sex dolls which vary in price from €645 to €1785. Models come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be customised to suite customer demands including skin tone, eye colour, removable vagina, fixed foot stand and even a heating system to more realistically mimic skin temperature. The company even has male sex dolls.
The company offers time with their sex dolls at a rate of around €95 per hour and markets the experience as a ‘luxury masturbation’ service.
The Turin ‘Dating House’
The long-awaited opening of the Turin-based franchise finally came to fruition on 3rd September 2018 but trading was quickly halted after allegations that the business had contravened local property laws. Additional press coverage also claimed that the operation was not conforming to safe hygiene practices.
The Turin Council issued this statement:
“Sequestration of the dolls, dispute of illegal activity of landlords with complaint for failure to communicate, in electronic form to the Authority of Public Security, the names of customers frequenting the premises, in addition to the administrative violation due to the lack of labels with indications on the materials.
“Furthermore, during the checks carried out by the Municipality together with ASL Torino technicians, an insufficient level of the sanitising system of the dolls was verified, which, as mentioned, were placed under precautionary administrative seizure.”
Responding to the latter claims, Prieto issued a statement:
“Hygiene in the establishment of LumiDolls is 100% guaranteed. We have certified cleaning and disinfection processes to be used in Europe (CE certification).”
As to the bureaucratic issues, Prieto is confident that these will be resolved soon.
When business is back up and running, the brothel will have around eight sex dolls for hire, including Kate, Ilary, Bianca, Naomi and their male love-doll, Alessandro. You can find details of all their models via the website where bookings can be taken once the brothel is back in operation.
Controversy Over Turin’s Sex Doll Brothel
Despite prostitution being 100% legal in Italy, the opening of the sex-doll brothel has been controversial. Whilst many see the notion as a widening of choice for the consumer, some believe that reducing sex to an act with an artificial person further objectifies women. There are other ethical issues being raised and detractors have claimed that the dolls will lead to a rise in ‘abhorrent sex crimes’. The Foundation for Responsible Robotics has published a report where author, Noel Sharkey, suggests that ‘guilt-free’ sex with a robot (or submissive doll) could encourage abuse, rape, objectification and even paedophilia.
The company strongly refutes the claims and has been very vocal in its refusal to accommodate any untoward requests. Speaking to the press in October 2017, Prieto confirmed that the most common banned request for its services was the fulfilment of a rape fantasy. The company flatly refuses service to such customers and does not stock small sex dolls or that resemble children in any way.
Also not happy about the introduction of ‘sex robots’ to their industry are prostitutes in the cities where the brothels have opened. Many fear that the dolls will detract from trade otherwise intended for their own brothels and bawdy houses and that they will lose money as a result.
There are also suggestions that the service is not a hygienic one and this is one of the reasons that the authorities claim the Turin brothel was closed down for.
The truth is that sex doll brothels are becoming more of a popular idea across Europe with other companies running similar operations already in Germany, Austria, France and the Netherlands.
When Will the Turin Sex Doll Brothel Re-Open?
It is worth noting that the company’s first venture in Barcelona also faced teething problems within the first few months of trading; initially being closed down within the first month and then changing location before it finally got the green light.
The main sticking points for the business in Turin appear to be a) the lack of an SCIA (Certified Report of Business Start) which the company is currently addressing and b) some sticking points in the lease arrangements.
In reality, neither of these issues will see the brothel closed for very long and, although there are some locals who aren’t happy about the concept, the love doll brothel will re-open again soon even if this has to be in a new location.
Wherever and whenever the Turin brothel opens, sessions with a cyber-sex doll are by appointment only. Contact Lumidolls Turin for details of their available plastic prostitutes when business resumes.
According to press reports, the company has been inundated with requests from Italian customers as well as international tourists who are all looking to try the company’s sex dolls. Most popular seems to be stag parties as well as couples. With this in mind, it is worth registering an interest sooner rather than later to be assured of a booking.
Featured image via Lumidolls.
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