The Oyster Box

The hotel boasts exceptional facilities, colonial-style interior, and prime beachfront location near Durban and the airport. Guests praise luxurious rooms, delicious breakfast, and outstanding service.

Wonderful stay here, please do not hesitate if you are contemplating booking this stay. I thought it might be too much, if that’s a thing but it absolutely was the most wonderful stay I have ever experienced. Restaurants and food was amazing, pool and staff were amazing, and close proximate to shopping and restaurants. I wish we could stay longer. The high tea, curry buffet, and spa were fantastic as well.

Partner and I spent 3 nights here from Christmas Eve Eve to Boxing Day and we were mighty impressed with not only the festive feel and grandeur of the hotel but the absolutely impeccable service that came with it! Upon arrival the Durban weather was not playing ball but our dampened spirits (and clothes) were completely left at the door of the hotel! Concierge grabbed our bags and offered us some bubbles, friendly chat and a seamless check-in while a real-life Santa Claus was keeping kids happy as they waited for a present. We were even greeted by the hotel’s 19 year old cat Skabanga who is a bit of a legend around the place and exceptionally cute! Christmas songs played in the lobby and decorations including a huge homemade gingerbread house complete pic’n’mix sweet station meant we immediately felt the festive vibe despite being 1000s of miles away from our families back in the UK. Hotel has a colonial style with an impressive restaurant terrace overlooking a decent size pool and beach complete with a lighthouse. uMlangha beachfront is beautiful with waves a plenty… good for body boarding! There’s a spa area and second swimming pool which both look equally inviting. We didn’t have time to squeeze in a massage as they were fully booked at times we were available, but heard rave reviews about them from other guests. Top floor bar in the hotel has an extensive cocktail menu which we took advantage of for sundowners every night before dinner. Also comes with a complementary tri-dish of snacks - nuts, Bombay mix and roasted corn - always a nice touch. We also stayed up here playing virtual board games on Christmas Day since a board game is much of our Xmas tradition. We also enjoyed drinks in the ground floor bar which is feels a bit more formal but suited us as a place to enjoy a drink (although saw people eating what looked like a delicious array of sushi in here) before Christmas Eve Dinner at the Grill. The Grill was lovely, ample food (6 course menu), highly recommend the lamb dish (lamb 2 ways of which one was in a sausage roll). George the wine sommelier looked after us well - chatted to us about his journey with wine over the years and even took us down into the wine cellar. He recommended a good bottle of red to accompany our meal. But it was the buffet restaurant that stole the show for us! We had Christmas lunch here on Christmas Day! The menu was extensive and the food was exceptional especially the roast beef! We had ALL the trimmings and several trips back up the buffet to try what we couldn’t fit on our plate the first time around meant we were suitably stuffed as one should be on Christmas Day! But then came the trip to the cheese and dessert section! It was stunning! Everything from Christmas Pudding and Mince pies to trifles, pastries, cakes, macarooons, soft serve ice cream with a plethora of toppings and a chocolate fountain! We also paid a visit to the buffet on Xmas Eve Eve but didn’t eat because we had a restaurant book