Property, plant and equipment (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				0 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended						12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Apr. 07, 2011	Apr. 07, 2011 Assignment of Purchase and Development Agreements	Dec. 31, 2010 Assignment of Purchase and Development Agreements	Dec. 31, 2011 Assignment of Purchase and Development Agreements	Apr. 07, 2011 Initial Call Option on Excess Development Rights sqft	Dec. 16, 2011 Call Options on Excess Development Rights	Apr. 07, 2011 Call Options on Excess Development Rights Maximum sqft	Apr. 07, 2011 Put Option on Excess Development Rights sqft	Apr. 07, 2011 Additional Call Option on Excess Development Rights sqft	Dec. 31, 2013 Charleston Center LLC	Dec. 31, 2012 Charleston Center LLC	Dec. 31, 2012 Great South Pacific Express	Dec. 31, 2013 Ubud Hanging Gardens	Dec. 31, 2012 Ubud Hanging Gardens	Dec. 31, 2011 Ubud Hanging Gardens	Dec. 31, 2013 Continuing operations	Dec. 31, 2012 Continuing operations	Dec. 31, 2011 Continuing operations	Dec. 31, 2012 Property, plant and equipment	Dec. 31, 2011 Property, plant and equipment	Dec. 31, 2013 Property, plant and equipment La Samanna	Dec. 31, 2013 Property, plant and equipment Grand Hotel Europe	Dec. 31, 2012 Property, plant and equipment Great South Pacific Express	Dec. 31, 2011 Property, plant and equipment Casa de Sierra Nevada	Dec. 31, 2013 Property, plant and equipment Ubud Hanging Gardens	Dec. 31, 2013 Property, plant and equipment Continuing operations
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Depreciation expense																			$ 48,346,000	$ 43,263,000	$ 43,133,000
Impairment of long-lived assets to be disposed of	7,031,000	3,166,000	65,144,000			6,386,000										7,031,000	0	0										1,029,000
Impairment of property, plant and equipment															3,837,000							2,538,000	8,153,000	35,680,000	750,000	2,538,000	8,153,000		36,430,000
Property, plant and equipment	1,121,749,000	1,138,114,000											187,854,000	183,793,000
Interest costs capitalized	1,088,000	4,193,000	863,000
Reimbursement revenue					2,000,000
Gross proceeds					25,500,000				16,350,000
Gain from closure of transaction				16,544,000			492,000
Square feet of excess development rights								45,000		52,000	65,000	4,800
Put or call option aggregate value				13,500,000							16,000,000	2,850,000
Proceeds used to repay a portion of existing loan facility									$ 4,514,000