If money isnt an issue look into some exotics. Brazilian cherry is nice or you could go Ipé, which is also nice. Both dense, naturally dark woods and can be in larger widths.

Dont know where your at but just guessing that local floor shops that sell everything (carpet, laminate,tile,wood) isnt the place to go.

Find a pro that only does HW and thats been in the biz for awhile. They can find you whatever you want.

Thanks :) we are on a budget and have about 950-1000 feet of hardwood to install...plus maybe the stairs. I will look at your suggestions! And will look for someone who just does floors. We've been to a home show recently and know of the local carpet and/or flooring places. We avoid the big box stores. So I'm getting a variety of quotes currently based purely on the aesthetics of what we like on the showrooms but have no idea if the brands or species of wood types are "good" or right for us.

You can look at brushed oak, it's gorgeous and durable. We are having it installed in a very dark color and the boards are 7 1/2" wide. We are getting it from a supplier in Canada but you can find a similar product elsewhere.

I will also add that we have had two homes with handscraped maple and they were extremely durable. The best part of handscraped is that the odd scratch or dent looks like it meant to be there and it feels great under bare feet.

That's very helpful! Thank you :)

have you considered wire-brushed?

http://www.ask.com/explore/what-you-should-know-about-wire-brushed-wood-floors

Here is a link that might be useful: wire brushed