Debt (Details Textual) (USD $)	12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 Hotel	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Aug. 01, 2011	Jul. 25, 2011	Dec. 31, 2011 $1.0 Billion Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 $1.0 Billion Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 $1.0 Billion Credit Facility [Member] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 $1.0 Billion Credit Facility [Member] Letter of Credit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 $1.0 Billion Credit Facility [Member] Swingline Loans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 $1.0 Billion Credit Facility [Member] Secured Term Loan Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 $925 Million Credit Facility [Member]	Aug. 01, 2011 $925 Million Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 $925 Million Credit Facility [Member] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 $925 Million Credit Facility [Member] Letter of Credit [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 $925 Million Credit Facility [Member] Swingline Loans [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 $925 Million Credit Facility [Member] Secured Term Loan Facility [Member]	Nov. 30, 2009 8% Senior Note [Member]	Sep. 30, 2009 8% Senior Note [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 8% Senior Note [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 8% Senior Note [Member]	Nov. 15, 2009 8% Senior Note [Member]	Oct. 21, 2009 8% Senior Note [Member]	May 15, 2009 8% Senior Note [Member]	Apr. 30, 2004 8% Senior Note [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 6.75% Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 6.75% Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2009 6.75% Senior Notes [Member]	Nov. 30, 2004 6.75% Senior Notes [Member]	Sep. 30, 2009 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Convertible Notes Payable [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Convertible Notes Payable [Member]
Debt (Textual) [Abstract]
Total credit facility	$ 925,000,000			$ 1,000,000,000				$ 300,000,000	$ 50,000,000	$ 30,000,000	$ 700,000,000		$ 925,000,000	$ 525,000,000	$ 75,000,000	$ 50,000,000	$ 400,000,000
Accordion feature allowing potential increase to credit facility							400,000,000					475,000,000
Maturity date for credit facility							July 25, 2012					August 1, 2015
Accrued interest on line of credit facility							LIBOR plus 2.50% or the bank's base rate plus 0.50%					LIBOR plus 2.25% or the bank's base rate plus 1.25%, subject to adjustment
Spread rate added to LIBOR							2.50%					2.25%									2.95%
Spread rate added to bank's base rate							0.50%					1.25%
Fee to be paid by the Company on the average unused portion, minimum							0.25%					0.30%
Fee to be paid by the Company on the average unused portion, maximum												0.40%
Percentage of advance borrowing based on appraisal value of hotel properties in the event of hotel property sold												50.00%
Percentage of advance borrowing based on appraisal value of hotel properties												55.00%
Funded indebtedness asset value ratio of the each quarter, maximum												65.00%
Base reference value used in minimum tangible net worth to be maintained calculation												850,000,000
Percentage of proceeds received in equity issuance added to base reference value used in minimum tangible net worth to be maintained calculation												75.00%
Total Debt	1,073,825,000	1,159,215,000				0	700,000,000					600,000,000		200,000,000																		319,246,000	306,551,000
Consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio, minimum												175.00%
Debt service coverage ratio, minimum												160.00%
Write-off of deferred financing costs related to refinancing of credit facility	1,681,000					1,700,000
Debt Instrument, maturity date																		Nov. 15, 2013								Nov. 15, 2014					Oct. 01, 2014
Availability of credit facility												317,000,000
Convertible Senior Notes issued, including 3.75% Convertible Senior Notes			317,100,000
Minimum trading days period for closing price of Company's common stock to be issued on conversion of debt																															20 days
Maximum trading days period for closing price of Company's common stock to be issued on conversion of debt																															30 days
Minimum percentage of increase in conversion price per share of common stock on the last trading day under circumstance one of converting the convertible notes																															120.00%
Maximum trading days period for determination of trading price of convertible notes on the request of notes holder																															10 days
Minimum trading days period for determination of trading price of convertible notes on request of notes holder																															5 days
Interest rate of Senior Notes																						8.00%				6.75%					3.75%
Effective interest rate of convertible notes																																8.46%
Debt discount and increase in paid in capital																														68,000,000
Letter of credit issued by bank												8,000,000
Conversion rate per $1,000 principal of convertible notes																															36.6972
Conversion price per share																															27.25
First semi-annual interest payment date																				May 15						May 15					April 1
Second semi-annual interest payment date																				November 15						November 15					October 1
Face amount of outstanding debt																									350,000,000				225,000,000		360,000,000
Interest rate swaps associated with term loan borrowings					500,000,000																	125,000,000		125,000,000
Aggregate principal amount of senior notes repurchased																			61,600,000								28,500,000	27,000,000
Repurchase on senior note																			44,700,000								27,000,000	17,800,000
Aggregate principal amount of senior notes repurchased under tender offer																							223,600,000
Gain on extinguishment of debt		1,299,000	18,677,000															(6,000,000)	15,900,000								1,300,000	8,800,000
Redemption price with accrued interest																						102.667%
Transaction costs allocated between liability and equity components																														10,000,000
Debt Additional (Textual) [Abstract]
Debt discount on Convertible Senior Notes	40,754,000	53,449,000
Accrued interest payable	5,589,000	11,422,000
Percentage of Purchase price equal to the principal amount of the convertible notes	100.00%
Amortization period of outstanding balance	25 years
Principal amount of convertible notes to be considered for trading price under circumstance two of converting the convertible notes	1,000
Minimum percentage of the last reported sale price of the product under circumstance two of converting the convertible notes	98.00%
Cash Interest expense relating to interest coupon on Convertible Notes	13,500,000	13,500,000	3,500,000
Non-cash interest expense related to the amortization of the debt	12,695,000	11,687,000	2,864,000
Initial strike price of purchased option	$ 27.25
Purchased options number of shares			13,200,000
Cost of purchased option			76,680,000
Purchased options expiration date	Oct. 01, 2014
Initial exercise price of common stock	$ 32.70
Approximate number of common stock share which can be purchased under warrants	13,200,000
Proceeds from issuance of common stock warrants			$ 43,740,000
Number of subsidiaries owning hotels	4