Before COVID-19, tourism and hospitality flourished within Durban. Post-COVID-19, the demand and popularity of Durban hotels have diminished, placing hotels in grim economic conditions. This study examines the critical factors affecting Durban hotels, identifies strategies that enhanced resilience in response to the pandemic, and recommendations toward strengthening hotel resilience. The study was an in-depth qualitative exploratory design using non-probability; purposeful and convenience sampling, in the form of semi-structured interviews with hotel managers in 3- and 4-star hotels along the central Durban coastline. The study findings emphasize the distinct crises post-COVID-19 such as infrastructure deterioration, load-shedding, crime, beach closures, floods, and looting causing instability. Ultimately, hotels were directly impacted financially and operationally. Their consequent actions resulted in strategies that enhanced hotel resilience like minimising expenditure, collaborative partnerships, use of industry associations, and repositioning the hotel which could be used in policy-making and contingency planning. The study provides insight into the challenges faced by Durban hotels and solutions that could be applied locally and abroad.