Las Vegas- posted on www.vegasblog.latimes.com: I was in Reno (my only trip ever to Northern Nevada) to profile the state's Attorney General when I first heard the name Sunset Thomas. Sunset had gone from modeling for NASCAR to Penthouse Pet to adult film star to brothel prostitute and, of course, Howard Stern regular.
She was working at the Bunny Ranch and was also the girlfriend of the owner Dennis Hof. I had met Hof in LA at the Grammy Awards a few months earlier and he said if I was ever in the neighborhood....
I had spent the day with Nevada's top lawyer and so it was dusk by the time I pulled up to the Bunny Ranch. My excuse: I was considering pitching a story on the place and was hoping to get a tour and some background for my pitch letter to the editor. Hof turned out to be unbelievably sleazy. Here was my favorite moment:
Hof: "You get me in Rolling Stone I am going to pay you."
Me: "The magazine actually would take care of paying me."
Hof: "Good. I'll match whatever they give you."
Anyway, midway through our conversation he got a call from Sunset and to hear him go from pimp trash into baby talk with her made for a bizarre interlude.
Late last week, Kent Wallace, Hof's publicist, called to tell me that he and Sunset were now living in Las Vegas and asked me to meet them for drinks. Both had long ago parted with Hof. We met on Friday night at the Rainbow accross from the Hard Rock.
Sunset owns a seven bedroom house here. She is planning to stay in Vegas while she finishes her autobiography and works on various television projects. She is single though still wears a huge diamond ring and drives a sharp white Mercedes, both gifts from her last boyfriend, recently deceased. After the jump is a short highlight of our conversation about her Vegas life.
Why settle in Vegas?
"I love Vegas because I love the limelight. Every night there is something exciting to do. You can glam up here and fit in and not look like an odd ball. I love to glam up. I love gowns. I love the nightlife. I am not a big partier but I love to go out."
Where do you go to hang out in Vegas?
"My favorite place is the MGM. I love Studio 54. I hang out there a lot. I also like the piano bar at New York New York."
If a guy comes to Vegas and sees you at Studio 54 or whatever, what is the best way to approach you?
"What's the way to say hello? Hmmm. I find it interesting when a guy will buy you a drink but not come over to your table right away. I like him to let me sit with my girlfriends and drink the drink and then if I am interested I will go over and sit with him to say thank you and start a conversation from there."
What would your fans be most surprised to know about you?
"How loving I am. That I am really down to earth. I've become a big name but I never forgot where I came from."
What is your favorite expensive toy that your career has provided the money to buy?
"My house in Vegas. I really love it and enjoy it and it makes me feel good. With everything that has happened to me in my life my home has always been there for me. When I broke up with Dennis (Hof) he could not take my house. My home was there for me. My boyfriend just recently died and even though he bought me a house in Reno it is my home in Vegas that I came to now for support."
Welcome to Las Vegas Sunset. I hope you enjoy your time here.
