When finishes are chronically exposed to (perhaps acidic) body oils, it can degrade the finish to the point it's turned to goo. Just removing the softened finish can get you all the way back to raw wood. I see this a lot of well used (think office) chairs, dining chairs, edges of desks, and handrails. There is no finish left, just goo that used to be finish. Clean it up and reapply finish. In severe cases you may need to strip the entire piece. In the future, clean regularly with detergent such as Dawn and water.

This sounds like efflorescence growth from water passing through the grout in the tile. Ask your builder what type of grout he used - was it regular grout or epoxy grout. Regular grout will allow water to permeate and any place this happens you can get this efflorescence scale forming. Clean it with 3-1 muriatic acid and an acid brush. Apply full strength vinegar once per week and scrub with a pool brush to limit its return.

Unless you're rolling in dough? Better to ROLL on some paint, with a very light sand, primer, and paint. Add great hardware. For less than a couple hundred bucks, they will look brand new. There's not one thing really wrong with them. If you want to splurge, great! 2 K max can get you a great custom look at 60" less for 48" . But at that point, you change the tops, and change the faucet from lowly 4" center set faucet, and ditch the cheap builder mirror as well. Meaning get rid of the Mariott Courtyard effect and add$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ How's the KITCHEN? At some point everyone has priorities unless resources are unlimited.

I'd be curious to know what the original top coat was on this island. Some finishes are more chemically resistant than others. If this was a 2-part conversion varnish, you might have been able to get away with a bleach solution. If it was more like a 1-part lacquer or varnish, then you probably have breached the coating. The best thing to do would be to try to match whatever the original coating was that was used here. Is there a way you can find out what that was? A wipe-on poly stands the chance of not adhering to your base coat, depending on what the original coating was and whether it was oil-based or water-based. Also, a different coating could yellow in time and leave you with an even bigger color match problem. Best thing would be to refinish with the original coating. You might be able to sand and apply another coat. If this was a conversion varnish, then it would need to be stripped and re-applied from the base up since a new coat of conversion varnish won't adhere well to an older layer, but I guess you could always try.