Condensed Consolidating Financial Information Balance Sheets (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 381,476	$ 234,466	$ 351,902	$ 405,855
Investment securities available for sale	180,836	172,534
Accounts receivable - trade, net	13,181	12,159
Intercompany receivables	0	0
Inventories	110,030	93,496
Deferred income taxes	28,424	50,479
Income tax receivable, net	22,160	0
Restricted assets	3,517	1,785
Other current assets	27,254	23,392
Total current assets	766,878	588,311
Property, plant and equipment, net	81,090	79,258
Investments in consolidated real estate businesses, net	21,087	20,911
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	21,787	20,788
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	12,834	8,595
Investments in non-consolidated real estate businesses	129,879	128,202
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Restricted assets	11,011	11,981
Deferred income taxes	59,015	51,474
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	268,574	271,111
Prepaid pension costs	26,872	26,080
Other assets	60,218	53,553
Total assets	1,459,245	1,260,264
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	132,791	151,577
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	12,107	19,128
Current portion of employee benefits	939	939
Accounts payable	9,515	26,799
Intercompany payables	0	0
Accrued promotional expenses	18,566	18,655
Income taxes payable	3,145	6,423
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	23,528	11,621
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	54,716	84,658
Deferred income taxes	50,454	45,734
Accrued interest	13,099	21,968
Other current liabilities	25,555	17,608
Total current liabilities	344,415	405,110
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	690,826	540,766
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	181,868	92,934
Non-current employee benefits	48,232	47,917
Deferred income taxes	151,986	137,650
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	54,493	57,496
Total liabilities	1,471,820	1,281,873
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	(86,951)	(95,036)
Non-controlling interest	74,376	73,427
Total stockholders' deficiency	(12,575)	(21,609)
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	1,459,245	1,260,264
Parent/Issuer [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	292,285	151,342	335,873	401,344
Investment securities available for sale	121,872	114,886
Accounts receivable - trade, net	0	0
Intercompany receivables	331	509
Inventories	0	0
Deferred income taxes	22,801	45,578
Income tax receivable, net	27,504	0
Restricted assets	0	0
Other current assets	25,905	513
Total current assets	490,698	312,828
Property, plant and equipment, net	3,389	3,641
Investments in consolidated real estate businesses, net	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	21,040	20,041
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	12,834	8,595
Investments in non-consolidated real estate businesses	0	0
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	433,400	410,442
Restricted assets	1,595	1,895
Deferred income taxes	46,856	35,000
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	0	0
Prepaid pension costs	0	0
Other assets	44,677	38,374
Total assets	1,054,489	830,816
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	105,411	112,275
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	12,107	19,128
Current portion of employee benefits	0	0
Accounts payable	1,210	1,509
Intercompany payables	0	0
Accrued promotional expenses	0	0
Income taxes payable	0	16,870
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	0	0
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	0	0
Deferred income taxes	36,311	32,309
Accrued interest	13,099	21,968
Other current liabilities	2,645	6,103
Total current liabilities	170,783	210,162
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	677,399	524,182
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	181,868	92,934
Non-current employee benefits	31,828	31,462
Deferred income taxes	78,241	65,759
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	1,321	1,353
Total liabilities	1,141,440	925,852
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	(86,951)	(95,036)
Non-controlling interest	0	0
Total stockholders' deficiency	(86,951)	(95,036)
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	1,054,489	830,816
Subsidiary Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	19,299	11,812	15,265	3,776
Investment securities available for sale	58,964	57,648
Accounts receivable - trade, net	10,782	10,154
Intercompany receivables	191	0
Inventories	110,030	93,496
Deferred income taxes	5,623	4,901
Income tax receivable, net	0	10,447
Restricted assets	2,103	1,060
Other current assets	12,743	12,579
Total current assets	219,735	202,097
Property, plant and equipment, net	57,193	55,093
Investments in consolidated real estate businesses, net	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	0	0
Investments in non-consolidated real estate businesses	0	0
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Restricted assets	9,416	10,086
Deferred income taxes	8,383	12,766
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	107,511	107,511
Prepaid pension costs	26,872	26,080
Other assets	10,290	10,126
Total assets	439,400	423,759
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	52,447	39,013
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Current portion of employee benefits	939	939
Accounts payable	4,083	4,136
Intercompany payables	0	39
Accrued promotional expenses	18,566	18,655
Income taxes payable	8,489	0
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	23,528	11,621
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	54,716	84,658
Deferred income taxes	14,143	13,425
Accrued interest	0	0
Other current liabilities	8,388	10,495
Total current liabilities	185,299	182,981
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	9,473	12,573
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Non-current employee benefits	16,404	16,455
Deferred income taxes	38,356	37,602
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	51,761	54,924
Total liabilities	301,293	304,535
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	138,107	119,224
Non-controlling interest	0	0
Total stockholders' deficiency	138,107	119,224
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	439,400	423,759
Subsidiary Non-Guarantors [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	69,892	71,312	764	735
Investment securities available for sale	0	0
Accounts receivable - trade, net	2,399	2,005
Intercompany receivables	0	0
Inventories	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Income tax receivable, net	0	0
Restricted assets	1,414	725
Other current assets	13,924	10,300
Total current assets	87,629	84,342
Property, plant and equipment, net	20,508	20,524
Investments in consolidated real estate businesses, net	21,087	20,911
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	747	747
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	0	0
Investments in non-consolidated real estate businesses	129,879	128,202
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	0	0
Restricted assets	0	0
Deferred income taxes	3,776	3,708
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	161,063	163,600
Prepaid pension costs	0	0
Other assets	5,251	5,053
Total assets	429,940	427,087
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	251	289
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Current portion of employee benefits	0	0
Accounts payable	4,222	21,154
Intercompany payables	522	470
Accrued promotional expenses	0	0
Income taxes payable	0	0
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	0	0
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0
Other current liabilities	14,522	1,010
Total current liabilities	19,517	22,923
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	3,954	4,011
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Non-current employee benefits	0	0
Deferred income taxes	35,389	34,289
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	1,411	1,219
Total liabilities	60,271	62,442
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	295,293	291,218
Non-controlling interest	74,376	73,427
Total stockholders' deficiency	369,669	364,645
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	429,940	427,087
Consolidating Adjustments [Member]
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Investment securities available for sale	0	0
Accounts receivable - trade, net	0	0
Intercompany receivables	(522)	(509)
Inventories	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Income tax receivable, net	(5,344)	(10,447)
Restricted assets	0	0
Other current assets	(25,318)	0
Total current assets	(31,184)	(10,956)
Property, plant and equipment, net	0	0
Investments in consolidated real estate businesses, net	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for at cost	0	0
Long-term investments accounted for under the equity method	0	0
Investments in non-consolidated real estate businesses	0	0
Investments in consolidated subsidiaries	(433,400)	(410,442)
Restricted assets	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Goodwill and other intangible assets, net	0	0
Prepaid pension costs	0	0
Other assets	0	0
Total assets	(464,584)	(421,398)
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable and long-term debt	(25,318)	0
Current portion of fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Current portion of employee benefits	0	0
Accounts payable	0	0
Intercompany payables	(522)	(509)
Accrued promotional expenses	0	0
Income taxes payable	(5,344)	(10,447)
Accrued excise and payroll taxes payable, net	0	0
Litigation accruals and current payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued interest	0	0
Other current liabilities	0	0
Total current liabilities	(31,184)	(10,956)
Notes payable, long-term debt and other obligations, less current portion	0	0
Fair value of derivatives embedded within convertible debt	0	0
Non-current employee benefits	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Other liabilities, primarily litigation accruals and payments due under the Master Settlement Agreement	0	0
Total liabilities	(31,184)	(10,956)
Commitments and contingencies
Total Vector Group Ltd. stockholders' deficiency	(433,400)	(410,442)
Non-controlling interest	0	0
Total stockholders' deficiency	(433,400)	(410,442)
Total liabilities and stockholders' deficiency	$ (464,584)	$ (421,398)