Are you going to have a standardd shower head too? Because the benefits of having both are great. First, it's just the two of us as well and we still had the slide bar secured so it could double as a grab bar. You know just in case there's ever a slip. Then we also wanted the advantage of being able to adjust the height of the hand held. As it turns out, we can use both the slider & the shower head at the same time and boy is that wonderful! Basically with the slider you have more options for height and a secured slider can be a safety feature. Even if you don't need it now, for resale, that's a plus. I think for us it was one of those things where if you don't know you won't miss it, we did it for practical reasons more than anything else, then once it was in, we saw how great it is and were tickled pink.

I have two of the Hansgrohe slide bars, one in brushed (satin?) nickel and one in oil rubbed bronze. I had a Grohe one previously. The hose is fine on all three. Grohe's hose was made of metal rings and a bit nicer. The Hansgrohe hoses are a different material; they are smooth, but I would not say that they look cheap or feel plasticky. I don't know whether or not they are painted rubber as you say. I have had them since January, so I can't judge how well they hold up long term. I have the shorter length hose on both, and I regret that a bit. I think it depends on how high off the floor your hose is mounted. Mine are high. In a shower or shower/tub, you want a long enough hose to rinse down all the walls. In my shower/tub, the hose doesn't reach the far end of the tub. On the other hand, I wouldn't want the hose to dangle onto the floor of the shower or into the tub. If/when mine wears out, I will buy the longer length for the shower/bath (but not for the freestanding shower). For now, it is not a big enough problem that I feel the need to replace it. I think the Hansgrohe slide bars work fine, as did the Grohe one I had previously. I think I remember someone mentioning on another post that the adjustment part of her Hansgrohe slidebar had worn out and had needed to be replaced. It was in her children's bathroom and had been frequently adjusted. Mine are fine, but as I said it had only been six months. One more thing: I didn't like the soap dish that comes with the bar. I have a niche where I keep the soap, and I think that looks better. It was easy to remove the soap dish. Of course, if you like it you can always leave it on.

agree with ravencajun that there are some really nice handhelds out there that rival or even beat a basic fixed head, plus their utility for cleaning is critical to me. Another option is to place the handheld on a slide bar so you can adjust to different heights. This is especially nice for kids or folks with very different heights. Unless you have a wide tub, I would be inclined to go with a really nice handheld on a bar and the tub spout, otherwise as linelle pointed out it will get busy with so many fixtures. Plus you will need additional diverter valves and trim for extra fixtures and you may decide that money might be better spent on upgrading the shower head (or some other part of your redo) We went all out in ours, but it is a good sized shower only - but you can see what it looks like in the picture below with two fixtures on one wall. I forget the exact dimension, but it is probably at least 40" across. Here is a link that might be useful: Master redo

I saw your layout thread first and thought, oh, she's getting the Hansgrohe Croma Green showerpipe like we have :-) More seriously, depends on your planned uses. I like a handshower for cleaning purposes. But DH is tall and wants a showerhead placed high. Having both works well for us. In a previous bath, we just had the handshower, and I had to stand on the edge of the tub to get it down -- not the safest. Have fun with your selections!