Do neither unless you are truly prepared for the realities of living with marble.

Some people (me included) actually love marble so much that the "realities" of living with it are plenty worth it.

To the OP, I can't comment on a polished or honed preference as I only have honed and love it! (It's 3 years old now with many etches and scratches, and it's still my favorite thing in the house!)

Honed!!! It is luscious and my favorite thing in my bathroom. There have been some etches, their origins a mystery to me. However, most have faded over time and in no way diminish the beauty of the stone.

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.

Well, that shower wall is truly hideous.

If you want marble in your bathroom - and marble has been used in bathrooms for centuries - get it honed. The etches are more glaring in a polished finish, and not quite as noticeable in a honed finish, though you will still see them in certain lights. That is called "patina". The Kitchens Forum has a ton of threads on the topic of marble patina.

Regarding the pics that Cabot & Rowe posted, that's not Carrara, it's not a countertop and it's not a slab which is what the OP is asking about, and who knows what happened in that bathroom and what was spilled. You can go to Greece or Rome and see ancient baths in marble, and that's how long people have been using it in bathrooms. Yes, it will etch, but it won't look like those photos.

TileX didn't get sprayed in Ancient Greece, nor was 24 hour lipstick a threat to a Roman column. Modern life is much more problematic for a soft porous stone than ancient life was. Modern acid rain IS dissolving many marble grave monuments and building facades. If you like that time worn ancient look, then yeah, a few years of wear and tear and you're there.

I'll take the man made surface any day. Cambria Torquay.

Buckwood Homes Country Club of the South - Marble Kitchen & Bath · More Info