Walnut butche block I have oak butcher block in my catering kitchen it takes all kinds of abuse including chopping once in a while I sand it and reoil often. This was my old kitchen also catering space it is now 23 yrs old and apparently looks awesome with that same oiling and sanding IMO better thsan quartz or laminate the only other choice would be areal stone thay will dull the knives but those are easilt sharpened I would suggest you provide a large chopping block regarless of what counter you choose .

Soapstone. BTW, on check-in, some vacation properties hand out free cutting "boards" which are much like heavy plastic placemats. The plastic also has a printed ad for the vacation property. An ounce of prevention goes a long way.

@apple_pie_order Thank you! That's a wonderful suggestion.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting Thanks you. I am considering going with the maple, based on your feedback and experience. Question: do you know what would happen if someone sat a hot pot on it? I will make sure their are trivets near the stove but just wondering what if...

Soapstone is not going to solve the "cutting directly on counters" problem, as anything stonelike will ruin knives. And it's expensive. If you're not worried about your knives, I'd just go for an inexpensive dark color quartz and give them plenty of machine washable cutting boards, left out in plain sight.

Do your renters tend to put hot pots and pans on the counter? If it's something that happens often, you might consider tiles. Very affordable and nearly bulletproof. Our kitchen has large format tiles that look kind of like concrete with matching grout, set in an offset pattern. Honestly, I thought I was going to hate them when we first bought the house but they've really grown on me. We have absolutely abused them and they're fine. Not something I'd choose for a high end kitchen, but totally would for a vacation rental.