All-inclusive Randomness

from somewhere on the Economist website:

As the World Cup approaches, Berlin’s businesses are positioning themselves for best advantage. The latest manifestation of this trend is a new, luxury mega-brothel, which opened in late September, just three train stops away from the Olympic Stadium, the tournament’s main venue. Housed in a former warehouse in Charlottenburg, the Artemis, refitted at a cost of €5m ($6m), boasts saunas, cinemas and a swimming pool and can cater for up to 100 prostitutes and 650 male clients. The women are not actually employed: along with the men, they pay a €70 entrance fee and then keep the money they earn.

The owners of the brothel insist the timing of the opening, before the tournament, is pure coincidence. But they admit that a boom in business is expected. While prostitution, which is legal in Germany, hardly raises eyebrows in liberal-minded Berlin, the size and opulence of the new bordello has caused a stir.