Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010	Mar. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Net Revenues:
Total net revenues	$ 2,544,355	$ 2,409,375	$ 2,345,096	$ 2,111,919	$ 2,015,046	$ 1,908,772	$ 1,594,476	$ 1,334,888	$ 9,410,745	$ 6,853,182	$ 4,563,105
Adjusted Property EBITDA
Adjusted Property EBITDA									3,532,155	2,228,573	1,086,161
Other Operating Costs and Expenses
Stock-based compensation expense									(31,467)	(31,638)	(29,930)
Corporate expense									(185,694)	(108,848)	(132,098)
Rental expense									(43,366)	(41,302)	(29,899)
Pre-opening expense									(65,825)	(114,833)	(157,731)
Development expense									(11,309)	(1,783)	(533)
Depreciation and amortization									(794,404)	(694,971)	(586,041)
Impairment loss									0	(16,057)	(169,468)
Loss on disposal of assets									(10,203)	(38,555)	(9,201)
Operating income (loss)	663,282	632,556	608,122	485,927	488,686	383,305	166,775	141,820	2,389,887	1,180,586	(28,740)
Other Non-Operating Costs and Expenses
Interest income									14,394	8,947	11,122
Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized									(282,949)	(306,813)	(321,870)
Other expense									(3,955)	(8,260)	(9,891)
Gain (loss) on modification or early retirement of debt									(22,554)	(18,555)	(23,248)
Income tax benefit (expense)									(211,704)	(74,302)	3,884
Net income (loss)	524,352	505,172	489,092	364,503	386,407	268,834	78,548	47,814	1,883,119	781,603	(368,743)
Intersegment Revenues
Total intersegment revenues									(170,514)	(140,469)	(62,709)
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									1,508,493	2,023,981	2,092,896
Total Assets
Total assets	22,244,123				21,044,308				22,244,123	21,044,308	20,572,106
Total Long-Lived Assets
Long-Lived Assets	16,421,447				15,901,037				16,421,447	15,901,037	14,561,091
Corporate and Other [Member]
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									23,062	12,215	36,846
Total Assets
Total assets	644,645				1,574,180				644,645	1,574,180	1,849,596
Total Long-Lived Assets
Long-Lived Assets	312,860				308,438				312,860	308,438	324,268
Macao Equipment [Member]
Net Revenues:
Total net revenues									4,934,991	4,215,814	3,366,353
Adjusted Property EBITDA
Adjusted Property EBITDA									1,577,435	1,217,580	809,389
Intersegment Revenues
Total intersegment revenues									(40,811)	(70,009)	(56,765)
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									915,354	414,160	404,280
Total Assets
Total assets	9,820,373				8,344,949				9,820,373	8,344,949	6,929,976
Total Long-Lived Assets
Long-Lived Assets	6,767,472				6,012,700				6,767,472	6,012,700	6,026,673
The Venetian Macao [Member]
Net Revenues:
Total net revenues									2,827,174	2,412,990	1,993,531
Adjusted Property EBITDA
Adjusted Property EBITDA									1,022,778	809,798	556,547
Intersegment Revenues
Total intersegment revenues									(3,923)	(8,345)	(2,957)
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									28,018	40,895	17,627
Total Assets
Total assets	3,199,194				3,194,598				3,199,194	3,194,598	2,886,762
Total Long-Lived Assets
Long-Lived Assets	2,002,751				2,138,419				2,002,751	2,138,419	2,324,882
Sands Macao [Member]
Net Revenues:
Total net revenues									1,282,201	1,193,589	1,024,268
Adjusted Property EBITDA
Adjusted Property EBITDA									351,877	318,519	244,925
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									7,690	4,708	5,887
Total Assets
Total assets	484,231				483,678				484,231	483,678	527,737
Total Long-Lived Assets
Long-Lived Assets	291,620				315,380				291,620	315,380	355,170
Four Seasons Macao (principally the Four Seasons Apartments) [Member]
Net Revenues:
Total net revenues									678,293	498,649	260,567
Adjusted Property EBITDA
Adjusted Property EBITDA									217,923	113,692	40,527
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									31,092	35,708	262,662
Total Assets
Total assets	1,267,977				1,155,243				1,267,977	1,155,243	1,151,028
Total Long-Lived Assets
Long-Lived Assets	1,006,441				1,024,302				1,006,441	1,024,302	1,047,201
Other Asia [Member]
Net Revenues:
Total net revenues									147,323	110,586	87,987
Adjusted Property EBITDA
Adjusted Property EBITDA									(15,143)	(24,429)	(32,610)
Intersegment Revenues
Total intersegment revenues									(36,888)	(61,664)	(53,808)
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									5,553	4,025	28,727
Total Assets
Total assets	328,415				370,525				328,415	370,525	333,122
Total Long-Lived Assets
Long-Lived Assets	216,030				230,640				216,030	230,640	276,559
Sands Cotai Central [Member]
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									843,001	321,489	89,309
Total Assets
Total assets	4,333,406				2,932,646				4,333,406	2,932,646	1,943,842
Total Long-Lived Assets
Long-Lived Assets	3,053,551				2,103,927				3,053,551	2,103,927	1,935,385
Other Development Projects [Member]
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									0	7,335	68
Total Assets
Total assets	206,150				208,259				206,150	208,259	87,485
Total Long-Lived Assets
Long-Lived Assets	197,079				200,032				197,079	200,032	87,476
US
Net Revenues:
Total net revenues									1,724,405	1,515,147	1,259,461
Adjusted Property EBITDA
Adjusted Property EBITDA									424,097	369,095	276,772
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									103,933	67,323	313,564
Total Assets
Total assets	4,984,847				4,724,747				4,984,847	4,724,747	7,630,168
Total Long-Lived Assets
Long-Lived Assets	3,869,739				4,038,018				3,869,739	4,038,018	4,253,251
Las Vegas Operating Properties [Member]
Net Revenues:
Total net revenues									1,324,505	1,213,046	1,106,263
Adjusted Property EBITDA
Adjusted Property EBITDA									333,295	310,113	259,206
Intersegment Revenues
Total intersegment revenues									(128,405)	(69,892)	(5,944)
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									47,666	21,651	65,899
Total Assets
Total assets	4,105,618				3,966,754				4,105,618	3,966,754	6,893,106
Total Long-Lived Assets
Long-Lived Assets	3,244,090				3,429,997				3,244,090	3,429,997	3,642,405
Sands Bethlehem [Member]
Net Revenues:
Total net revenues									399,900	302,101	153,198
Adjusted Property EBITDA
Adjusted Property EBITDA									90,802	58,982	17,566
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									56,267	45,672	247,665
Total Assets
Total assets	879,229				757,993				879,229	757,993	737,062
Total Long-Lived Assets
Long-Lived Assets	625,649				608,021				625,649	608,021	610,846
Marina Bay Sands [Member]
Net Revenues:
Total net revenues									2,921,863	1,262,690
Adjusted Property EBITDA
Adjusted Property EBITDA									1,530,623	641,898
Intersegment Revenues
Total intersegment revenues									(1,298)	(568)
Capital Expenditures
Total capital expenditures									466,144	1,530,283	1,338,206
Total Assets
Total assets	6,794,258				6,400,432				6,794,258	6,400,432	4,162,366
Total Long-Lived Assets
Long-Lived Assets	5,471,376				5,541,881				5,471,376	5,541,881	3,956,899
Intersegment Eliminations [Member]
Intersegment Revenues
Total intersegment revenues									$ (170,514)	$ (140,469)	$ (62,709)