Income taxes - Narrative (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) entity	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]
Dutch corporate income tax, general tax rate	25.00%	25.00%	25.00%
Income tax provision (benefit)	$ (17,220,000)	$ 12,199,000	$ 9,051,000
Effective tax rate	79.80%	39.10%	102.70%
Tax benefit from rate-favorable jurisdictions	$ 18,836,000	$ 21,629,000	$ 16,277,000
Tax benefit from inflation adjustments	4,276,000	4,848,000	5,009,000
Tax expense (benefit) on measurement of Dutch deferred tax assets and liabilities pursuant to Dutch tax rate change	(3,952,000)	13,721,000	2,590,000
Increase (decrease) in valuation allowance established on deferred tax assets	(10,554,000)	299,000	19,981,000
Tax expense on non-deductible interest and expenses. goodwill impairment expense, and other expense	13,600,000	8,000,000.0	7,000,000.0
Expense (benefit) associated with Dominican Republic tax paying entities	6,109,000	5,145,000	(3,994,000)
Tax expense associated with foreign exchange rate fluctuations	6,038,000	3,561,000	3,183,000
Valuation allowance releases	20,800,000
Income Tax Contingency [Line Items]
Deferred income tax expense	(22,820,000)	3,015,000	1,017,000
Current income tax expense	5,600,000	9,184,000	8,034,000
Uncertain tax positions	$ 0	0	$ 0
Dominican Republic
Income Tax Contingency [Line Items]
Number of entities under tax holiday | entity	3
Number of hotel entities with signed APAs | entity	3
Deferred income tax expense	$ 5,700,000	4,800,000
Current income tax expense		300,000
Dominican Republic | Foreign Tax Authority
Income Tax Contingency [Line Items]
Net operating loss carryforwards	$ 0	0
Dominican Republic | Playa Romana Mar B.V.
Income Tax Contingency [Line Items]
Period of tax exemption	15 years
Dominican Republic | Playa Dominican Resorts B.V.
Income Tax Contingency [Line Items]
Period of tax exemption	15 years
Mexico | Foreign Tax Authority
Income Tax Contingency [Line Items]
Net operating loss carryforwards	$ 35,100,000	18,900,000
Netherlands
Income Tax Contingency [Line Items]
Dutch 2019 tax package effect on deferred tax assets, decrease (increase)		14,400,000
Dutch 2019 tax package effect on deferred tax asset valuation allowance, increase (decrease)		(14,400,000)
Impact of Dutch tax rate change from deferred tax assets, tax expense (benefit)		0
Dutch 2019 tax package effect on deferred tax liabilities, increase (decrease)		(700,000)
Impact of Dutch tax rate change from deferred tax liabilities, tax expense (benefit)		(700,000)
Dutch 2019 tax package effect on deferred tax assets, increase	4,200,000
Dutch 2019 tax package effect on deferred tax asset valuation allowance, increase	4,200,000
Impact of Dutch tax rate change from deferred tax assets, tax expense (benefit)	0
Dutch 2019 tax package effect on deferred tax liabilities, increase	200,000
Impact of Dutch tax rate change from deferred tax liabilities, tax expense	200,000
Netherlands | Foreign Tax Authority
Income Tax Contingency [Line Items]
Net operating loss carryforwards	356,300,000	349,500,000
Jamaica | Foreign Tax Authority
Income Tax Contingency [Line Items]
Net operating loss carryforwards	56,500,000	61,000,000.0
U.S. | Domestic Tax Authority
Income Tax Contingency [Line Items]
Net operating loss carryforwards	$ 28,500,000	$ 20,500,000