Related Person Transactions (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended	1 Months Ended				6 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended				3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended				6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2012 item	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012 item	Jun. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2012 Staybridge Suites item	Aug. 31, 2012 Staybridge Suites Schaumburg Illinois Agreement	Aug. 31, 2012 Staybridge Suites Auburn Hills, Michigan	Jun. 30, 2012 Sonesta agreements Property	Jul. 31, 2012 Sonesta agreement No. 1 Staybridge Suites Agreement	Jul. 31, 2012 Sonesta agreement No. 1 Inter Continental Hotels Agreement	Jun. 30, 2012 Marriott No. 234 agreement Property	Jun. 30, 2012 Marriott No. 234 agreement item	Jan. 31, 2012 SNSTA	Aug. 31, 2012 Hotels Inter Continental Hotels Property	Jun. 30, 2012 Hotels Sonesta agreements Property	Aug. 31, 2012 Hotels Sonesta agreement No. 1 Staybridge Suites Property	Jul. 31, 2012 Hotels Sonesta agreement No. 1 Staybridge Suites Property	Aug. 31, 2012 Hotels Sonesta agreement No. 1 Inter Continental Hotels item	Jul. 31, 2012 Hotels Sonesta agreement No. 1 Inter Continental Hotels item	Jun. 30, 2012 Hotels InterContinental agreement Property item	Jun. 30, 2012 Hotels Marriott No. 234 agreement Property	Jun. 30, 2011 Hotels Marriott No. 234 agreement Property	Mar. 31, 2012 RMR	Jun. 30, 2012 RMR trustee Agreement company	Jun. 30, 2011 RMR	Jun. 30, 2012 RMR company trustee Agreement	Jun. 30, 2011 RMR	Jun. 30, 2012 Travel Centers of America LLC trustee	Jun. 30, 2012 Travel Centers of America LLC Travel centers Property Agreement	Jun. 30, 2011 Travel Centers of America LLC Travel centers	Jun. 30, 2012 Travel Centers of America LLC Travel centers Property Agreement	Jun. 30, 2011 Travel Centers of America LLC Travel centers	Jun. 30, 2012 Travel Centers of America LLC Travel centers TA No. 1 Property	Jun. 30, 2011 Travel Centers of America LLC Travel centers TA No. 1	Jun. 30, 2012 Travel Centers of America LLC Travel centers TA No. 1 Property	Jun. 30, 2011 Travel Centers of America LLC Travel centers TA No. 1	Jun. 30, 2012 Travel Centers of America LLC Travel centers TA No. 2 Property	Jun. 30, 2012 Travel Centers of America LLC Travel centers TA No. 2 Less than option	Jun. 30, 2012 Sonesta Sonesta agreements	Jun. 30, 2012 Sonesta Sonesta agreements	Aug. 31, 2012 Sonesta Sonesta agreement No. 1 Agreement	Jul. 31, 2012 Sonesta Sonesta agreement No. 1 Agreement	Jun. 30, 2012 Sonesta Sonesta agreement No. 1 Agreement	Jun. 30, 2012 AIC	Jun. 30, 2011 AIC	Jun. 30, 2012 AIC	Jun. 30, 2011 AIC	Dec. 31, 2011 AIC	Jun. 30, 2012 AIC Less than	Jun. 30, 2012 Affiliate of RMR Travel centers
Related Person Transactions
Business and property management agreement expenses																								$ 9,934	$ 8,589	$ 18,582	$ 16,874												$ 1,173	$ 1,633
Number of agreements to provide management and administrative services																								2		2
Number of Managing Trustees who are Chairmen, majority owners and an employees of RMR																								1		1
Increase in minimum annual rent			12,268																																															1,536
Number of hotels to be removed from management agreement												2								2
Number of hotels to be added to management agreement																		6	7
Capital improvements to leased facilities, funded																															18,065
Deferred rent accrued	1,253	395	2,562	936																													471		1,200
Percentage of ownership formerly held in subsidiary																												100.00%
Number of common shares owned																												2,540,000
Shares owned as a percentage of total shares outstanding																												8.80%
Number of Managing Trustees who are Managing Directors																												1
Number of management agreements or leases	9		9			1			6	1																			2		2										6	7	2
Number of hotels offered for sale or to be rebranded (in properties)								2			18			2	17	3	3			42	21	21
Number of properties leased																													185		185		145		145		40
Term of renewal option																																					15 years
Percentage of non-fuel revenue over threshold amounts																													3.00%		3.00%
Percentage of fuel revenue over threshold amounts																													0.30%		0.30%
Annual percentage rent to be waived																																					2,500
Deferred rent due in December 2022																													107,085		107,085
Deferred rent due in June 2024																													42,915		42,915
Rental income	73,688	78,240	146,948	157,773																									51,592	50,254	102,909	100,086
Adjustments included in rental income necessary to record rent on the straight line basis	(60)	1,201	294	2,418																													(69)	1,195	287	2,399
Aggregate purchase price advanced													150,500
Aggregate selling price advanced						2,060	3,510
Mortgage loan prepaid													31,035
Interest rate hedge agreement unwound													2,525
Number of sales expected to be completed					2
Equity method investments, ownership percentage																																												12.50%		12.50%
Maximum ownership percentage in related party																																																	20.00%
Equity method investments, carrying value																																												5,408		5,408		5,291
Earnings (losses) recognized related to equity investments	76	46	121	83																																								76	46	121	83
Number of renewal options available																																						2
Coverage of property insurance																																														500,000
Period for which property insurance program was extended																																														1 year
Annual premium for property insurance																																														5,256
Common shares issued for services rendered by RMR																							33,132
Ground rent payable per year																																			$ 5,126
Number of other companies for which services are provided																								5		5
Number of other companies to which services are provided holding shares in related party																										1