How these brothers are building a backpacker business empire
From a rundown backpackers’ operating on a “shoestring” budget to a portfolio of hostels spread across Australia’s east coast, Nathan and Adrian Somerville have come a long way since 2013.
The brothers have recently added their first freehold property, located in Brisbane’s Upper Roma Street, to their Somerville Hospitality empire for $7.38 million.
It’s a big jump from the $150,000 they handed over for their first business – the leasehold of the then Globe Backpackers (now operating as Hump) – in Sydney’s Darlinghurst in 2013, described by Mr Somerville as “one of the worst hostels in the country” at the time.
