At St. Regis, amid offerings of caviar, lobster, truffle, foie gras and Kobe beef, I discovered a course unpretentiously titled "Catch of the day". I tried it and did not regret my decision. Later, as I spent my last day in the Maldives at the Sheraton on Full Moon Island, I encountered the same offering and realized that it was a local signature dish.

Ayyoub Salameh, director of culinary service at St. Regis, says the hotel buys 600 kilograms of fish a day from local fishers, for the consumption of guests and hotel staff. It also buys produce from local farmers.

"I don't think I'll stay in the country for life, so I'm going to deliver something for it," says the master cook, a Jordanian, who is also building a horticulture garden for local spices and herbs.

Similar willingness is also expressed by Wong Chiu Man and his wife Maria Warner Wong, the architectural duo and Harvard graduates who designed St. Regis at Vommuli.

"The Vommuli House is inspired by the extending roots of banyan trees," Warner Wong says. "The parts were prefabricated and pre-engineered before being sent to Vommuli for rapid erection with the help of Maldivian workers. In this way we have tried to be environmentally friendly while passing on construction skills to locals."