These tiles are from Crossville, they are ceramic tiles with a glossy finish.

You can also consider glass tiles. We carry a white 1x2 like these: http://www.subwaytileoutlet.com/products/White-Mini-Glass-Subway-Tile.html
and white 3x6 as well: http://www.subwaytileoutlet.com/products/White-Glass-Subway-Tile.html
Glass will give you a similar look to this but without your fear of it looking like 'public utility' as you said. You can get samples and put them in your space to see if you like the look. This beautiful shower pulled off the look well, but some showers do not. It is worth a look at our install photos nonetheless to see if you like the look of the glass tile. Good luck and let us know if we can help with anything!