Hilton Hotel: Top Durban property set to reopen
The shuttered five-star Durban Hilton Hotel located at the city’s ICC is set to reopen in March this year.
Durban’s Hilton Hotel is scheduled to reopen in March after temporarily closing down almost three years ago.
The 5-star Durban Hilton Hotel is expected to reopen its doors within the next two months as the eThekwini municipality threatened to take it over.
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EXPROPRIATION CLAUSE
According to TimesLive, Durban city manager Musa Mbhele told eThekwini executive committee members that there was a clause in the hotel’s agreement with Durban, allowing the city to expropriate the hotel if it was not performing as expected.
“They’ve made a commitment because we were threatening to take over. The agreement was that if that thing doesn’t perform we would expropriate it.” Mbhele said, per TimesLive.
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The city is reportedly considering activating the expropriation clause if the Hilton Hotel does not reopen.
“I received a call from the CEO of the Hilton Hotel saying it will open by March. They have gone beyond giving us a letter [with a date] that they will be reopening,” he said.
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HILTON HOTEL CLOSURE
The privately owned luxury hotel, located near Durban’s International Convention Centre (ICC) opened in 1997.
However, the property closed its doors in 2021, citing Covid-19 restrictions and dwindling tourism numbers as concerns.
DURBAN CITY REGENERATION
The reopening of Durban’s Hilton Hotel is part of the city’s efforts to rezone the area around the Durban International Convention Centre.
Durban’s Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said that the city is planning to relocate the taxi rank and the nearby spares and repairs businesses as they don’t help to project the desired image for a top hotel.
“That space must be occupied by more sophisticated economic activities. Besides the Hilton Hotel, we need other hotels and restaurants around the ICC. The rezoning of the space is very critical. It should not take us more than three years to plan it.” Kaunda said.
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DECLINING TOURISM
Tourism to Durban has slowed in recent years. The city has seen reduced numbers of visitors due to various reasons.
In December last year, Durban’s beaches were closed to holidaymakers due to the high E.coli count in the seawater.
Another reason is the city’s failing infrastructure, which can result in unpleasant conditions for both residents and visitors.