The Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans will be folded into the Waldorf=Astoria Collection in spring 2009 and, when it does, Mark Wilson will be its director of sales and marketing. Wilson previously served as the director of marketing for the Royal Sonesta Hotel.

Wilson began his career with the San Francisco Hilton and went on to hold various positions at properties in New Orleans, including the New Orleans Hilton Riverside, ITT Sheraton and Fairmont. For the past three years he has served as president of the French Quarter Business Association.

Previously the Fairmont New Orleans, the hotel was badly damaged in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. However, after a multi-million-dollar renovation, the famed property will reemerge in 2009 again as the Roosevelt Hotel under the exclusive Waldorf=Astoria banner, which currently is composed of five properties, but will add as many as six more by 2011, including The Palace Jerusalem.