I did Travertine tiles in my master bath and went with Travertine countertop - I love it! It looks so uniform, pretty, and serene. It looks nice also because you have a counter of 4-5" over the wall tiles, and if the tiles and countertop are the same it kind of looks uniform and consistent. Here is a link that might be useful:

You need to do some homework. Every material has it's pros and cons, and it all comes down to what you are willing to live with. "Best" is completely subjective. Frankly, if my DH had not felt so strongly about our using a "higher end" counter top (we ended up with engineered quartz) I would have done a laminate. They are durable, warm, soft, and very inexpensive. Completely low-maintenance if you are not careless about using them. Our quartz will be fine, and looks fantastic, but we spent nearly three times what we could have spent on a high-end laminate. IKEA has some DIY laminate for incredibly little cost if you are willing to put in the effort and will buy you plenty of time to do some research on your countertop options. Here is a link that might be useful: IKEA wood and laminate countertops

I am still in the process of getting quotes for this in Caesarstone, so I don't have anything to show. Mine is not an island, but a raised bar on a peninsula and I would like the floor return on the end of the 'U'. I also wanted a mitered edge to the 2cm Caesarstone to make it look more substantial, but now the fabricators is raising too many questions and I'm not sure as I have never seen anything like it. I will not have a finished cabinet end panel on that end, so he wants to know if the inside should be polished. He is also suggesting to just paste the interior (on the raised bar inside 'leg') with another 2cm thick piece to achieve the polished look as well as the mitered edge. Would this work or look weird? Zinnah - would you mind posting pics of yours? In the Candice Olsen pic above the top appears thicker than the vertical sides and it looks OK to me.

Heatheron40, very nice. I asked a question about doing a tile countertop in our guest cabin recently as I feel like the look would complement the cabin aesthetic. Also I’m dying to learn to tile and thought it would be a fun place to start as it’s not an everyday space and I could take my time. Most of the responses were against. Basically stating the grout would make me crazy. The guy at the said what you’re saying I think, he said that modern grouts are more resistant to staining and such, and also to go with a tinted grout of some sort. I love your use of pattern to give it interest and intention!