I am in the process of making the same decision. Did you come to a conclusion?

There are other natural stones that you can use that require much less maintenance than marble. A lot of our clients go with Classic White Quartzite or a quartz that mimics marble.

Here is the Classic White Quartzite:
Here is another sample:

Yes, we decided to go with Caesarstone on the counters and are adding marble to our backsplash.

Caesarstone is a great choice! A lot of our clients love it and it is low maintenance. Best of Luck!

Thank you. Did you decide not to go with Maxx tile for any specific reason? I love the look but am not as sure about fabrication/ installation and maintenance?

I've looked at all the leading lines of quartz ... we have Cambria in our kitchen ... as well as Neolith and Deckton. I love the look of the MAXXtile Onice Perla. Saw it installed at the local Capco and it is just beautiful. And from what I've read, the slab porcelains are just about indestructible ... even to heat, which is an issue with quartz. The one issue I've heard is that the porcelain ... being thin ... needs to be transported and installed carefully by an experienced thin porcelain slab fabricator. (We're going with this in our bathroom.)

This is an old dilemma but I can't resist throwing my two cents in anyway. Yes, there are countertop materials that "mimic" the look of marble. I have viewed the different alternatives and the look alikes are tacky by comparison. Nothing like the real thing!!

Update: We had the MAXXtile Onice Perla installed in our bathroom ... countertop and shower bench. It is the only manufactured stone I have seen that is indistinguishable from genuine stone. It is beautiful and impervious to staining. That said, I don't know how I'd feel about installing in a kitchen where you could drop a pot on it. And it needs to be installed by someone with extensive experience. Our fabricator had to re-do the shower bench because the edge seams weren't invisible as they should be. If you're in the extended Denver metro area, I highly recommend Goodman Tile and Stone.

I am in Denver : ) but went with honed granite for the kitchen for the reason you mentioned above. Thanks for your thoughts!

@michelle sobel ...how do you like the marble? Is it performing as you had hoped?

@bonnie - I didn't go with the marble.