Investments in unconsolidated companies - Textuals (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended									0 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2012 Hotel and rail joint ventures in Peru	Dec. 31, 2012 Peruvian Hotel Joint Venture [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Hotel joint venture in Peru	Dec. 31, 2012 Eastern and Oriental Express Ltd.	Dec. 31, 2012 Buzios land joint venture	Jun. 30, 2007 Buzios land joint venture	Apr. 17, 2012 Las Casitas del Colca	Jun. 15, 2012 Palacio Nazarenas room	Dec. 31, 2012 Hotel Ritz, Madrid	Dec. 31, 2012 Guarantee Obligations Hotel Ritz, Madrid	Dec. 31, 2012 Contingent Financial Guarantee Additional Debt 2018 Peruvian Hotel Joint Venture [Member] hotel	Dec. 31, 2012 Contingent Financial Guarantee Additional Debt 2014 Peruvian Hotel Joint Venture [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 First Mortgage Loan Facility Hotel Ritz, Madrid	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum	Dec. 31, 2012 Minimum Guarantee Obligations Hotel and rail joint ventures in Peru
Schedule of Equity Method Investments
Ownership percentage					50.00%	50.00%	19.90%	50.00%	50.00%			50.00%					20.00%	50.00%
Proceeds from sale joint venture										$ 5,590,000
Number of keys in hotel											55
Cash consideratiion									5,000,000
Percentage interest not owned				50.00%					50.00%
Investments in and loans and advances to unconsolidated companies	58,924,000	60,012,000
Earnings from unconsolidated companies, net of tax	2,124,000	4,357,000	2,258,000
Debt obligations guaranteed													9,888,000	15,500,000	2,706,000
Number of hotels operated by joint venture														4
Long-term debt default amount classified in current liabilities						$ 7,558,000						$ 1,163,000				$ 85,036,000