SURFERS BACKPACKER RESORT SWAPS HANDS
The first hostel for travellers in the beachside precinct has sold after owners and industry pioneers Reg and Jeanette Walker decide time has come to step back
THE first backpacker hostel in Surfers Paradise, which opened more than 30 years ago, has been bought by a Gold Coast-based Chinese buyer in a $6.36 million deal.
The Surfers Paradise Backpackers Resort is on a 2109sq m site at 28352843 Gold Coast Highway, directly west of the beachfront Jewel towers.
It has been sold with vacant possession by backpacker pioneers Reg and Jeanette Walker and was marketed as a potential high-rise development site.
Government records show it has been bought by 61-year-old Hope Island Resort homeowner Jian Liang through company Photon Property.
His plans for the resort are not known and the agent who marketed it, First National Commercial’s Brad Merkur, yesterday would not comment on the transaction.
The Surfers Paradise Backpacker Resort, under the Walker stewardship, won international recognition in traveller books such as Lonely Planet, Let’s Go and Rough Guide.
The Walkers, both 80 and heading into retirement, opened the resort in 1987 in a former motel, the Golden Surf.
They bought adjoining land and in 1989 added a purpose-built hostel, taking the resort’s bed numbers to 110.
Mr Walker, a former Australian barefoot waterski champion, has worked with the city council and fire authorities to frame backpacker laws and has played a key role in moves to promote the industry and introduce a ratings system.
The resort includes self-contained apartments, dormitories with en suites, a reception area, commercial kitchen, laundry, bar, pool and sauna, and volleyball, basketball, tennis, and ping pong areas.
First National Commercial’s Mr Merkur said the options available to buyers, including redevelopment of the site, meant there were inquiries from far and wide.
“Obviously its proximity to the light-rail line added to the property’s attraction, both for the line’s use by backpackers and for its availability to apartment owners in any tower project.”