Related Person Transactions - TA Transaction Agreement (Details) - Travel Centers of America LLC	Dec. 31, 2016 travelcenter shares
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Percentage of gross carrying value of real estate	36.00%
Number of common shares owned (in shares) \| shares	3,420,000
Ownership percentage formerly held in subsidiary	100.00%
Percentage of total shares outstanding	8.70%
Share ownership restrictions maximum percentage of equity shares that can be acquired without approval	9.80%
Travel centers
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Number of real estate properties under property management agreement \| travelcenter	198

Represents the number of shares held as a percentage of the total shares outstanding at the end of the period.

No definition available.

Name:	hpt_InvestmentOwnedPercentageOfTotalSharesOutstanding
Namespace Prefix:	hpt_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the percentage of the gross carrying value of real estate.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	hpt_LesseeAsPercentageOfRealEstateProperties
Namespace Prefix:	hpt_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The number of properties with property level operations of the office building component under property management agreement.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	hpt_NumberOfRealEstatePropertiesUnderPropertyManagementAgreement
Namespace Prefix:	hpt_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Percentage of ownership held in the subsidiary formerly.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	hpt_OwnershipPercentageFormerlyHeldInSubsidiary
Namespace Prefix:	hpt_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the maximum percentage of equity shares of the entity, which any single person or a group can acquire without obtaining approval.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	hpt_ShareOwnershipRestrictionsMaximumPercentageOfEquitySharesThatCanBeAcquiredWithoutApproval
Namespace Prefix:	hpt_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Balance held at close of period in number of shares.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 946
-SubTopic 320
-Section S99
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (SX 210.12-12C.Column B)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=50485924&loc=d3e611225-123010

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 946
-SubTopic 320
-Section S99
-Paragraph 6
-Subparagraph (SX 210.12-14.Column B)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=50485924&loc=d3e611322-123010

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 946
-SubTopic 320
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.12-12.Column B)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=50485924&loc=d3e611133-123010

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentOwnedBalanceShares
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:sharesItemType
Balance Type:	na
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

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=hpt_TravelCentersOfAmericaMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_MortgageLoansOnRealEstateDescriptionTypeOfPropertyAxis=hpt_TravelCentersMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: