ANY natural stone, especially a honed marble will need to be well sealed.

Even then........grease spatter, butter spatter, any and all? Yes it can definitely stain. Even with the seal. Plan on it. Can you get it out? Sometimes yes, with a poultice.

You already know the possibilities for marble counter tops. Can they etch? Yes. Can they stain ? Yes. Proceed with the knowledge and your personal cooking/entertaining/housekeeping habits in mind.

Matters not, really, what someone ELSE has or does.

Why not just use Carrara marble on the backsplash? Either tiles or a slab.

After viewing those San Dona marble tiles on the website, I wouldn't put those two together. JMO

We have had our counter tops for more than 5 years. I do not mind the etching. Thankfully, we have had no problems with grease or tomato based stains. There are no stains at all. I’m more curious about the QUALITY of the San Dona honed marble in comparison to the tried & true Carrara marble from Italy.

You Just asked....."Has anyone had a GOOD experience with it? Any issues with staining from cooking splatters?"

This is not a quality issue. It is a MATERIAL issue. No different than your tops............

With any selection......you order a test box, inspect, and guarantee lot when you are pleased.

And I would echo Diana above as they seem a bit rustic for your marble tops..???

Perhaps post a kitchen pic of what you're doing and where

I love that’s it’s not stark white as it has grey undertones & has flecks of crystal in it. Carrara on Carrara felt to be too busy for our smaller kitchen, but I may have to circle back to it & re-evaluate it again!

I am currently doing our own science experiment- sealing a sample & splattering it!

A miss on a match might as well be a mile. Two different stones rarely look good next to each other.

Those are NOT great together. Sorry. No. Match your marble tops, or get a great ceramic in an updated size.

You're going from a 4 " riser to overthink.

You have two different issues here relating to the backsplash. One is the aesthetics of using two different stones, one on the b/s and one on the C-top, which all of the pros have advised you not to do.

The second issue is the staining/splattering issue. You already have marble c-tops and know the pros and cons of this stone. Why would you think that the b/s stone would react differently than the one on the counter? Marble is marble--it etches from EVERYTHING: oil, water, acids, coffee, tea, wine, you name it. So cooking splatters are going to do the same thing.

I love mixing natural elements. Many beautiful kitchens mix different marbles… quartz, Carrara, blanco, calacatta, granite. San Dona I have just never seen in person in a home or know anyone who can testify to its quality once installed. All marbles are not created equal, some are more porous than others regardless of sealing. Mixing stones in my mind is no different than mixing metals or textile textures. It’s good to be different!

For the love of heaven. You have a sample. Smear some butter on and try to get it off. Put some hot tomato sauce on it and leave it there a couple hours and then do same.

You want the answer you want to hear.

"Quality" has nothing to do with anything. It is a material from earth. With its own properties. It''s akin to asking will my wood floors warp if there is a flood. As to "mixing" stones? Do as you please., it's your house.

Yes, all marbles are different in that they have different colors, patterns and densities. Some will stain and some will not. Danby marble is denser than some granites and does not stain. I've lived with it for 8 years and have no stains on it.

However, THEY ALL ETCH. Etching is a chemical process that calcium carbonate (the chemical name of marble) undergoes when coming into contact with any acid. If it's truly marble, it will etch, meaning that a thin layer of the marble will be eaten away by the acid, resulting in a duller spot than the surrounding area. If you think that etches on your backsplash will bother you, then don't do it. If not, then do whatever you like.

Don't work IMO and honed stone is always a bad choice in a kitchen honing opens the "pores" in the stone and allows for staining IMO use the same material you have for the counter nice polished cararra

Given your concerns, and with the color and pattern not aligning between the two, a nice ceramic in an interesting shape could fit better.

Honing does not always allow for staining. As I stated, I have had honed Olympian white Danby marble for over 8 years and I have not one stain on it. Etches yes, stains no. And I don't baby it, I treat it like any other surface--it gets cleaned and that's it. Haven't sealed it since it was installed. It has been in contact with berries, wine, coffee, tea, lemons, limes, tomatoes, flower pollen, and there are NO discolorations on it.

I also have honed Jet Mist granite on the beverage bar. No stains there either.

Honed or polished is a personal choice--I like the casual nature of honed stone. I find polished stone too formal. So blanket comments like "honed stone is always a bad choice....opens the 'pores' in the stone and allows for staining" don't always ring true. It depends on the stone.