Granite vs Tile

I am now done with all the boards, taping, etc. and ready for granite and stucco. However, after looking at it for a long time yesterday I am now thinking I may want to go with a tile countertop instead of granite. The concerns with granite are

1. Cost - it is ridiculously expensive
2. "Bulk" - it is a lot of counter, and it is going to look very bulky being a big uniform slab of single color
3. Color - I am struggling to find a color that will work well
4. The edges. If you look at the edges of the bars/counters in this picture you scan see it looks a little weird where you have the stucco on the front of the raised part under the granite

With tile I can address all these issues

1. It's much cheaper to buy, although the installation will need a professional and will cost me.
2. I can have different tiles for the backsplash, have multiple colors/patterns on the counters etc to break up the big space
3. Color choice & texture is practically unlimited (i.e. overwhelming!)
4. I can tile the whole raised part, which will look better.
5. An added bonus is that I can trim the top and bottom of the walls with a tile strip to add a little more interest.

I think the 2nd picture looks better (although it has the benefit of the footrests and the trellis) and now need to start researching tiles, tiling patterns etc etc.

We have a very good tile person who did our bathrooms and the outdoor BBQ tiling in the last house. We will likely use him (and I suspect I will also let him do the stucco as well, since he will do a much better job than me!). So this effectively means that my work is done, until it's time to hook up the beer and install the doors, drawers and appliances. (Oh, he's also a plumber so he can do the gas hookup too). It seems weird to be suddenly "done", as I was expecting to be stuccoing next weekend.