Hi Fiona, not sure if I have stumbled across your post too late or not but here is some info anyway.
We normally go to Durban every year around April/May but not this year This we feel is the best time of year to go for weather as the heat is still there but the humidity has started to drop, February would be unbearable for me and I would struggle Dec/Jan/March. You can look forward to temps around 30 degrees and sea temp of around 22 to 25 degrees.
I can't really help you on hotels as we are lucky enough to have family there but there are many hotels along the beach front including two Holiday Inns. I will list a few web sites below and if you have any questions about where we visit when we go there please feel free to ask.

KwaZulu Natal web sire, the area where Durban is
http://www.kzn.org.za/

KwaZulu Natal wildlife site, this has alot of game reserves and mountain resorts and other places to stay.
http://www.kznwildlife.com

Fantastic little mountain resort that we visit three hour drive from Durban, convert the prices they are hard to believe.
http://www.hlalanathi.za.net

Small game reserve around an hour from Durban
http://www.tala.co.za

New marine world which is ment to be fantastic
http://www.ushakamarineworld.co.za

Bird park, I didn't really want to go but got my arm twisted and really enjoyed it.
http://www.umgeniriverbirdpark.co.za

Hope this info is a help and not to late for you, can't wait until our next trip in 2006.

Barry.

Thanks Barry. We have booked elsewhere now as we couldn't get the flight days we wanted. However, we will be going sometime!

Hope you enjoy your holiday, for future reference i'm sure you know you can't fly direct to Durban, we have always flown Air France from Edinburgh/Paris/JoBurg/Durban leaves Edinburgh at 18:40 and into Durban at 13:20 the following day. After playing a few travel agents off against each other we normally book with either Thomas Cook or Flight Center for £550 to £600 each although quite often on your first call they will tell you flights are around £800 each.

Feel free to ask at any time in the future for info on Durban.

Barry.

We were using a redemption booking for BA miles and just couldn't get the length of holiday we wanted as we wanted to start in Cape Town and then go on to Durban.
Those prices you got are really great. Have you stopped over in Joburg?

Going for a record late reply, never stopped over in Joburg always run through, but some info for anyone looking to get flights to SA we are flying there with Air France and Back with KLM which skiped the short change over in Paris of 50 Minutes which we have never made and means a 8-10 hour delay. Also got the flights for £570 each although did get offered £494 each Air France both ways leaving a day early but took the extra day in Durban and the great flight times on the way back with KLM. Please feel free to ask more questions and I will try to answer them faster;)

thanks for getting back to me Barry!! There is nothing surer than we will be going to South Africa some time!
We have a possible week April 2007. I had discounted SA then as I have always wanted to go to Durban and Cape Town- Going to Durban itself is maybe a possibility.

April is around the best time to go to Durban as the weather is good the humidity has dropped as has the wind and the sea is still very warm, infact we have just booked the flight mentioned above in April. You could easily spend a week in and around Durban although I would recommend atleast 2 weeks which would give tine to travel to the mountains and game reserves.

I will give you an idea of our itinery which for this holiday is(hopefully) perfect for me. We arrive on good friday to have a few days in and around Durban, will be trying to miss the crowds(always watch our for local holidays as the beaches can be unbelievably packed). Will try to get in some golf and visit Ushaka Aquarium and a shopping visit at Gateway. Off to Impila camp in Umfolozi to stay in the Safari tents for 4 night then 1 night at Hilltop in Hluhluwe. Most of these days will be self drive with a couple of day drives and a night drive booked at each camp. The we go to Charters Creek at lake St Lucia to unwind for 2 nights before another few days in Durban.
Then its off to Giants Castle in the Drakensberg mountains for two nights, we normally go to Hlalanathi near the Ampitheatre and Royal Natal park but decided to try somewhere new as we will only be there for two nights and it is more expensive. Then it's back to Durban for a few days before heading home. Total cost for these 9 nights away will be around £250 plus food, drink and car hire. Then we are very lucky not to have to pay for accomodation for our Durban nights but our grand total so far for flights accomodation and car hire(for 8 days) is running at around £1600 for two with all food, drink and fuel too go on top of that but at 40p a pint in many bars and a fillet steak in a restaurant starting at £3 those costs will be cheaper than what we would spend here during the same time.
Web sites posted above have details on the places we are visiting mostly the KZN sites and our day trips in and around Durban will be to Tala, Ushaka, the south coast of course the beach.
Again please feel free to ask any questions and I will be happy to try to answer.

Thanks again Barry!
We hadn't looked beyond Drakensberg and Natal. Unfortunately, it is very rarely that we could get a fortnight at that time of year. However, we have done several long haul weeks- better that than nothing!

If you are only going for a week I would think about July, it is cooler but the weather should still be good by our standards and the game veiwing is better as the grass is lower as the temperature is cooler so the animals are easier to find which means a day drive to Tala should maximize game viewing. And the big reason for going in July is the Sardine run http://www.biganimals.com/sardine.html which is ment to be an awesome experience although timing is not always the same. You might see sharks, whales, dolphins and seals feeding never mind the locals on the beach and all this can be seen from the shore or by boat trip. I am not sure but more info will be available and you could do a day trip to the south coast to watch this natural phenomenon if they were not going to make Durban during your week.
One word of warning, they take down the shark nets during this time so you are limited on sea swims although they say you are still ok at certain times. But this is one reason that we will go there in July at some point to catch the sardine run and the better game vieing.

never heard of the sardine run! That sounds fantastic- would be sticking to the boat though!!!