Management Agreements and Leases (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified			12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 Agreement Y Property	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 30, 2011 Hotels	Dec. 31, 2011 Hotels Property Agreement	Dec. 31, 2011 Hotels Maximum Y Property	Dec. 31, 2011 Hotels Minimum Y Property	Dec. 31, 2011 Hotels Marriott No 1 contract Y	Nov. 30, 2010 Hotels Marriott No 1 contract Property	Feb. 29, 2012 Hotels Marriott Nos. 2, 3 and 4 Contracts	Jun. 30, 2011 Hotels Marriott Nos. 2, 3 and 4 Contracts	Dec. 31, 2011 Hotels Marriott Nos. 2, 3 and 4 Contracts Term Agreement Y Property TRS	Feb. 28, 2012 Hotels Marriott Nos. 2, 3 and 4 Contracts	Jun. 14, 2011 Hotels Marriott Nos. 2, 3 and 4 Contracts Agreement Property	Dec. 31, 2011 Hotels Marriott Nos. 2, 3 and 4 Contracts 20 Marriott hotels Property	Dec. 31, 2011 Hotels Marriott Nos. 2, 3 and 4 Contracts Marriott hotel St. Louis, MO	Feb. 29, 2012 Hotels InterContinental Contracts Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4	Jul. 31, 2011 Hotels InterContinental Contracts Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 Option Property Y Term	Dec. 31, 2011 Hotels InterContinental Contracts Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4	Jul. 25, 2011 Hotels InterContinental Contracts Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 Property Agreement	Feb. 28, 2011 Hotels InterContinental Contracts Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4	Dec. 31, 2011 Hotels Prime Y	Jan. 02, 2004 Hotels Prime Agreement	Dec. 31, 2011 Travel centers Property	Dec. 31, 2011 Travel centers TA No. 1 Travel Centers of America LLC Property	Dec. 31, 2011 Travel centers TA No. 2 Travel Centers of America LLC Option Y Property
Management Agreements and Leases
Number of real estate properties	473			288																			185
Number of management agreements or leases	8			6									3						4
Number of properties leased to TRSs				233
Number of properties leased to third parties				55
Number of real estate properties leased or managed					130	1		53					71						130
Renewal period (in years)					60	20	12				10						15
Return or rent as a percentage of increase in gross hotel revenues over threshold amounts				5.00%
Minimum annual returns and rents payable to the entity										$ 98,404	$ 98,404						$ 153,129
Number of consecutive renewal terms that the entity has the option to renew the agreement											2						2
Number of agreements with minimum rent and return											2
Original security deposits											64,700
Security deposits	106,422	105,859					50,540											55,820	36,872	41,887
Percentage of cash flows to replenish original security deposit amount											70.00%
Percentage of cash flows paid toward agreed amounts for management fees											30.00%
Percentage of minimum returns due through 2017 for which limited guarantee has been provided											90.00%
Guarantee provided to the entity, maximum											40,000
Minimum percentage of annual gross revenues from hotel operations to be escrowed as FF&E reserves											5.00%
Maximum percentage of annual gross revenues from hotel operations to be escrowed as FF&E reserves											6.00%						5.00%
Number of real estate properties leased																								145	40
Number of renewal options available																	2								2
Term of renewal option (in years)																									15
Fund for renovation of hotels											102,000						300,000						75,000
Net book value, after previously reported impairment writedowns	4,768,228	4,928,490									123,025
Aggregate sale price, excluding closing costs															35,000
Time period for funding for general refurbishment of hotels (in years)											2
Percentage increase in minimum returns after funding for renovation of hotels											9.00%						8.00%
Number of hotels offered for sale or to be rebranded (in properties)											21			20			42
Decrease in minimum returns as percentage of sales proceeds											9.00%						8.00%
Number of TRSs to whom property will be leased											1
Amount by which the cash flow available to pay entity's minimum rent or return was more (less) than the minimum amount									(1,505)		(29,762)					(13,933)
Amount paid by lessee for funding annual rent or return shortfall									5,236		9,127
Security deposit adjusted against minimum rent deficit											18,392							18,052
Deficiencies in minimum annual rent payments											4,081
Guarantee provided to the entity, remaining amount											30,873	25,637
Cash received to supplement security deposit																		37,000
Maximum increase in security deposit from cash flows realized																	100,000
Percentage of cash flows realized to increase security deposit																	50.00%
Proceeds from sale of hotel																	6,905
Minimum return payments or minimum rents to be paid to the entity
2012	571,956
2013	504,598
2014	504,400
2015	504,245
2016	504,297
Thereafter	5,984,581
Total	8,574,077
Average remaining current terms of leases and management agreements (in years)	14.9
Number of hotels sold (in properties)																	1
Amount expected to be funded in 2012 for capital improvements			302,000
Initial term of the management contract (in years)																					15
Number of management agreements for AmeriSuites hotels																						24
Future amortization of retained deposits and other property
2012																					2,952
2013																					2,952
2014																					2,952
2015																					2,952
2016																					2,952
2017																					2,952
2018																					2,952
Unamortized balance of retained deposits and the value of other property received from Prime pursuant to the settlement																					$ 20,655	$ 44,281