Debt and obligations under capital lease (Details)	12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended				1 Months Ended					1 Months Ended						12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended															1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2010 Variable interest entity, primary beneficiary option	Dec. 31, 2013 Variable interest entity, primary beneficiary USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Variable interest entity, primary beneficiary USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2010 LIBOR Variable interest entity, primary beneficiary	Aug. 31, 2011 El Encanto USD ($) option	Dec. 31, 2013 El Encanto USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 El Encanto USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2011 El Encanto LIBOR	Jun. 30, 2012 Napasai	Jun. 30, 2012 Napasai Tranche one USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Napasai Tranche two USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2012 Napasai Tranche two THB	Jun. 30, 2012 Napasai LIBOR Tranche one	Jun. 30, 2012 Napasai BIBOR Tranche two	Sep. 30, 2012 Grand Hotel Timeo and Villa Sant' Andrea USD ($) hotel	Sep. 30, 2012 Grand Hotel Timeo and Villa Sant' Andrea EUR (€)	Sep. 30, 2012 Grand Hotel Timeo and Villa Sant' Andrea EURIBOR	Dec. 31, 2012 Grand Hotel Europe USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Grand Hotel Europe USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Grand Hotel Europe Tranche one USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 Grand Hotel Europe Tranche two USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Grand Hotel Europe Tranche two USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Grand Hotel Europe LIBOR	Jul. 31, 2013 Inn at Perry Cabin and '21' Club USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2013 Inn at Perry Cabin and '21' Club LIBOR	Aug. 31, 2013 Reid's Palace Tranche one USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2013 Reid's Palace Tranche one EUR (€)	Aug. 31, 2013 Reid's Palace EURIBOR Tranche one	Aug. 31, 2013 Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons Tranche two USD ($)	Aug. 31, 2013 Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons Tranche two GBP (£)	Aug. 31, 2013 Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons LIBOR Tranche two	Oct. 31, 2013 European trains USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2013 European trains GBP (£)	Oct. 31, 2013 European trains Tranche one USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2013 European trains Tranche one GBP (£)	Oct. 31, 2013 European trains Tranche two USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2013 European trains Tranche two GBP (£)	Oct. 31, 2013 European trains LIBOR	Dec. 31, 2013 One subsidiary USD ($) subsidiary	Dec. 31, 2013 Working capital line of credit
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt instrument, face amount								$ 45,000,000					$ 9,000,000	$ 4,251,000	135,000,000			$ 44,400,000	€ 35,000,000		$ 50,000,000	$ 50,000,000			$ 26,000,000										$ 32,334,000	£ 20,000,000			$ 6,467,000	£ 4,000,000
Amount borrowed									43,988,000	25,749,000													24,000,000	2,000,000			24,000,000		19,925,000	15,000,000		19,826,000	12,981,000				25,867,000	16,000,000
Maturity term				3 years				3 years										3 years	3 years		5 years						5 years		18 months	18 months		5 years	5 years		5 years	5 years
Number of options to extend maturity				2				2
Extension period of maturity				1 year				1 year
Variable interest rate basis							LIBOR				LIBOR					LIBOR	BIBOR			EURIBOR						LIBOR		LIBOR			EURIBOR			LIBOR							LIBOR
Basis spread on variable interest rate							3.50%				3.65%					3.00%	3.00%			5.00%						7.00%		3.00%			4.00%			3.75%							4.00%
Maturity date												Jul. 01, 2017
Repayments of debt																		46,757,000	36,844,000				4,000,000				17,130,000
Number of Sicilian hotels pledged as collateral																		2	2
Derivative, fixed interest rate																		5.59%	5.59%
Gain on capital lease extinguished	0	1,514,000	16,544,000																			1,514,000
Number of subsidiaries out of compliance with covenants																																										1
Long-term debt default amount classified in current liabilities																																										556,000
Debt instrument, cross-default threshold amount	25,000,000.0
Guaranteed debt of subsidiaries	384,818,000	341,078,000
Deferred financing costs	11,080,000	13,694,000
Long-term debt, including current portion, held by consolidated variable interest entities					96,150,000	97,945,000
Working capital facilities - maximum borrowing capacity	3,021,000	4,473,000
Line of credit facility, expiration period	1 year
Working capital facilities - remaining borrowing capacity	2,883,000	4,473,000
Working capital loans	$ 138,000	$ 0
Weighted average interest rate	4.22%	4.14%																																									6.24%