Umhlanga Rocks magic

As always the Sands is a stunning hotel that fulfills almost all my dreams of a holiday in Paradise. The rooms are beautiful, the upgrades are super, restaurants excellent, view to die for and just a place I cannot wait to return to every year or so. This year (visited in October), we did find a few little things that were not to our liking : Firstly, the adherence to wearing of masks in the public areas e.g lifts is not enforced enough. Very casual approach (even on the beachfront too) and not what one would expect during Covid. Secondly, whether you like smoking or not, there are always smokers and the space assigned to them at the hotel is not Covid friendly at all. A tiny, enclosed room with no air, no space to socially distance, smoky and just not good at all. There is NO outside space at all for smokers. I did speak to management about that and apparently, they do push for another space, but unsuccessfully. Just not healthy the way it is done at the Sands. Lastly, the noise from the pool area is deafening at time with very loud microphones and often very loud music. It kind of drowns out the magic of the sea sound and is very irritating if you want to rest. Other than that - all good and I will return for sure.

Thanks