Variable interest entities - Narratives (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Goodwill	$ 123,023	$ 113,343
Eastern and Oriental Express Ltd. \| Variable Interest Entity, Not Primary Beneficiary
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage in variable interest entity	25.00%
Charleston Center LLC \| Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage in variable interest entity	19.90%
Assets of consolidated VIE that can be used only to settle obligations of the consolidated VIE	$ 207,712	210,276
Goodwill	40,395	40,395
Liabilities of consolidated VIE for which creditors do not have recourse to Belmond	$ 120,695	$ 121,621

Assets of Consolidated Variable Interest Entities that can Only be Used to Settle Obligations of the Consolidated VIE

No definition available.

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Namespace Prefix:	bel_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Liabilities of Consolidated Variable Interest Entities for which Creditors have no Recourse to Belmond Ltd.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	bel_LiabilitiesofConsolidatedVariableInterestEntitiesforwhichCreditorshavenoRecoursetoBelmondLtd.
Namespace Prefix:	bel_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6388280&loc=d3e13770-109266

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 350
-SubTopic 20
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64834752&loc=SL49117168-202975

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percentage of the Variable Interest Entity's (VIE) voting interest owned by (or beneficial interest in) the reporting entity (directly or indirectly).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 810
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5A
-Subparagraph (d)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=64801991&loc=SL6759159-111685

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=bel_EasternAndOrientalExpressLtdMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableInterestEntitiesByClassificationOfEntityAxis=us-gaap_VariableInterestEntityNotPrimaryBeneficiaryMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=bel_CharlestonCenterLLCMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableInterestEntitiesByClassificationOfEntityAxis=us-gaap_VariableInterestEntityPrimaryBeneficiaryMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: