Launched in 2011 under the leadership of Park 75 at Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta.mobi, Hotel Restaurant Week returns in 2012 to the excitement and anticipation of many chefs and diners across Atlanta. The culinary calendar is marked for Saturday, March 31 through Saturday, April 7, 2012 for those wanting to enjoy a three-course dinner at an Atlanta area hotel restaurant.

“No special occasion necessary,” says Executive Chef Robert Gerstenecker of Park 75 Restaurant at Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta. As mastermind behind the eight-day event, he’s witnessed a slight improvement of the mindset of people who once considered a hotel restaurant for anniversaries and birthday celebrations only.

“I want people to realize just how comfortable and relaxing it is to dine in a hotel restaurant,” adds Gerstenecker. “We’re certainly not the stuffy, high-dollar restaurants associated with the 80s. We’re much more creative and approachable.”

The success of the 2011 event was due largely in part to the participating restaurants, which included Park 75, Room, Livingston, Lobby, Spice Market, Paces 88, eleven, The Mansion on Peachtree and BLT Steak. This year even more will join in, including Southern Art and Bourbon Bar and The Terrace on Peachtree

“It was one of the most successful promotions we’ve participated in,” said Zed Stevenson, executive chef of Livingston Restaurant at the Georgian Terrace. “Through Hotel Restaurant Week, we generated lots of new customers who have returned many times since the promotion.”

Last year’s event increased traffic to local hotel restaurants by 80-90 percent, proving that Atlantans are ready to take hotel restaurants off of their “special occasions” list and add them to regular nights out. The event also emphasizes the convenience of hotel dining as it features restaurants from Buckhead, Midtown and Downtown, thus making it easy to satisfy diners across the city.

“We have a clear goal - we’re trying to make hotel restaurants much more attractive to the modern consumer,” says Chef Gerstenecker, “and give them opportunity to enjoy delightful food and refined atmosphere that only hotel restaurants can bring.”