Iconic Hilton Durban shuts after hotel group yanks agreement

Global hotel group Hilton has cut ties with the owners of the well-known Hilton Durban hotel adjacent to the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (Durban ICC) in the city.

The move was abrupt as the change reportedly occurred last week, with guests (both present and future) being informed electronically. Links to the property’s page on Hilton.com return an error; the hotel is listed as “permanently closed” on Google Maps, and calls to the hotel go unanswered.

The five-star hotel reopened under the Hilton brand in 2024 after being shut for more than three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, the reopening was, rather strangely, confirmed by the eThekwini Municipality.

Mayor Cyril Xaba said at the time that the initiative would provide a significant boost to the city’s tourism economy, particularly as it coincides with the start of Tourism Month in September. “The hotel’s reopening will add to the luxury executive accommodation inventory of Durban. The phased reopening of the hotel will also strategically amplify the city’s business case when bidding to host national and international conferences.”

Guests have reportedly been informed that any reservations will not be honoured under the Hilton brand and that the operator is no longer involved in the property’s management. They are told to contact the property owner directly. The group’s four-star Garden Inn property at the Umhlanga Arch is offered as an alternative.

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The closure of the Durban Hilton means that all three original Hilton properties in South Africa, Hilton Sandton (which, like its Durban counterpart, opened in 1997), Hilton Cape Town City Centre (which opened in 2011) and the Durban property, have shut. The Sandton property has since reopened as NH Sandton, while the Cape Town hotel opened as the Hyatt Regency Cape Town, the first Hyatt-branded property in the ‘Mother City’, in December 2020.

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Hilton has since opened DoubleTree by Hilton in Woodstock, Cape Town; the Garden Inn property in KZN; Hampton by Hilton Sandton Grayston; and Canopy by Hilton Cape Town at the iconic Longkloof Studios on Kloof Street. The last two of these both opened in 2025.

In 2014, the Durban Hilton underwent a three-year, R150 million revamp. A new restaurant and bar were added, and all the hotel’s rooms were upgraded, with a royal suite added to the existing executive suites and presidential suite. At that point, the Durban site was one of only a few hotel properties the Hilton group owned globally.

The UAE’s Bin Otaiba Hotel Group acquired Hilton Durban in 2018. It entered the South African market in 2008 with the acquisition of the Radisson Blu Le Vendome in Sea Point, Cape Town. It also bought the Hyatt Regency in Rosebank, the Park Inn by Radisson in Sandton, and the King Edward Hotel in Gqeberha. By 2021, it had investments in the country estimated at R3.5 billion.

All of the Bin Otaiba Hotel Group’s properties steadily fell into disrepair and shut during the pandemic, with the Hilton Durban being that only one that reopened under its original name. The Hyatt Regency in Rosebank reopened as the Royal Majestic Hotel in late 2025. The group’s two Radisson hotels remain shut with no obvious path to reopening. According to a report, the group plans to reopen the Park Inn and Hilton properties under the Royal Majestic brand.

More to follow ….

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