We have polished carrera. Honestly, I haven't noticed any etching. Im sure it's there, so maybe its the lighting in the room. There's a small scratch on mine, we put a drill on it when installing window treatments. No one would notice it but me. I do occasionally notice a ring from the hand soap bottle or shampoo but it fades after a few days. We've been in the house for 18 months.

Marble is graded by its quality or its look. The better the look,detail and less imperfections or marks and surface features the higher the grade. Imperfections,spots,marks and anything that will degrade the overall clean look the lessor the grade . I can share that we have "experienced" what srosen has pointed out re: different grades of marble. In our MB, we used a beautiful White Thassos marble mosaic from Porcelanosa as an accent in the tub surround, and as a ceiling-height backsplash over the sink. We also used White Thassos (Select?) tile/pieces from a LI fabricator/supplier in all three bathrooms to line niches and as shelves, and also used it as tub surround trim (instead of bullnose tile) in the MB. The quality difference between the White Thassos used in the mosaic, compared to the individual tiles/pieces is very much apparent. The mosaic tile is not as "clean" or as pristine white as the individual tiles were/are. The mosaic is still quite stunning overall, but in addition to many of the tiles being less than pure white, some have streaks of grey or small spots in/on them. It doesn't detract from its beauty in any way, but that's how it is. The mosaic wasn't cheap by any means (though we did get a terrific discount), but I am sure it would have been even more expensive had it been made from the same Select tile as our individual tile.

I don't mind the marble in the kitchen or laundry but I would think twice about the little kids' bathrooms unless you are super meticulous. Not only can a water cup leave a ring but if placed in the same spot over and over again, it will start to really make a mark. You can of course circumvent this by making sure that you don't leave anything on the counters but only in drawers/cabinets. We had a soap dish that we thought was never wet and lo and behold when I moved it one day it left an imprint. Because of that, I left the soap dish where it was and then forever I could never move it because it got worse and worse. My kids like to have the hand soap on their counters and so I had to purchase trays for that too--which I had to make sure were never wet underneath. It's a bit high maintenance to have marble in a bathroom. Our last house I used white granite instead and then never worried about it! Here is the white granite--totally bulletproof. Never stained etched or had ANY problems.

We too try to talk every customer out of using marble for countertops unless it's in a specific spot for baking. Marble will easily etch due to any common acid found in the kitchen; lemon juice, cranberry, orange, vinegar, toothpaste and most common cleaners. Marble also stains from chocolate, kool-aide, soy sauce, spaghetti sauce, sharpies, lipstick, any hair care products with coloring. Mable will also stain from cooking oils, grease, body lotion, and butter. Marble will also transfer rust stains from the bottom of shaving cream cans. Marble will also scratch from knives, pots, pans, school backpacks, most baking ware and some appliances. Marble needs to be cleaned with a pH neutral marble cleaner. If one well-meaning family member grabs the bottle of Lysol, it will show forever. It is pretty though.