Hi
Welcome to flyertalk!!!
I am from South Africa and can reiterate Umhlanga mentioned in the above post. If you are going to Durban for a holiday or break Umhlanga is definately the place you want to stay - less crime than the city, holiday atmosphere, great hotels and the best and longest sandy beaches the east coast has to offer. Like mentioned above the new airport is close and it is only 20 minutes on the Highway from Durban.
Big hotels to look at is the Southern Sun hotels namely:
Beverly Hills
Cabana Beach Lifestyle Resort
Umhlanga Sands Lifestyle Resort
Garden Court Umhlanga
and the Oyster box as mentioned