Irv, you are wrong about that.
Of course the police have to prove that you gave the room in exchange for sex but if they can it is as good as cash. Anything that can legally hold value, even barter for other services, can be used in a charge of prostitution.
Hmmmmm... so when the wife used to say "if you buy me xyz, i'll give you a 45 minute deepthroat tonight, cum as many times as you can", technically, that was prostitution?
Somewhat OT, but curious, would it legally apply at all within the confines of a marriage? What if you were a non-married but established couple? Or engaged? what if you were legitimate friends, fuck friends, but not a monogamous couple?
I had a friend who's girl wrecked his bmw. His insurance deductible was 1500. She and he arranged for her to pay it off, much of it cash, but he agreed to a credit of $50 for every BJ she gave him within the first month after the crash happenned. According to him, she opted to get on her knees about 15 times the first week. Knocking off half the bill.
Couples sometimes barter between each other with sexual favors. Is that prostitution? Seems to be a lot of grey area there...
I was once almosted busted getting a BJ in a parked car under the bruckner with a provider I had known for years. (why we were under the bruckner is another story...) I would say we were friends, but the sex was always strictly on a professional basis. The cops took us aside and questioned us in detail --- I knew her well, so I knew all the answers - birthday, where she was born, her current real name, original maiden name, her kids names and birthdays, her real address, parents names... She knew much of the the same about me. So they decided we were not pro/john. Which of course we were.
Seems to me that the requirement that the provider and the john need to be semi strangers to one another is rather abitrary.