Marble is timeless, it is never old fashioned.
Marble and wood - these materials are used in the most expensive houses or condos.
Tile cannot compare as it is not a natural material. It is cheap no doubt, maintenance-free but does not look classy.
The beauty of natural material is that no two pieces are the same because the grain.
You walk bare-footed on marble and on tiles, the feeling is different.
Marble is relatively softer and more porous compared to granite. Marble is like female (soft) while granite is like male (hard).
Of course there are different types of marble, lower grade like Ipoh white marble to genuine Italian marble.

Tiles is easiest to maintain. Spoiled pieces can be replaced (have to keep spare tiles or colour wont match).
Marble needs special care as it is easy to scratch, porous and get stained.
Concrete floor is prone to cracks especially big areas. The surface has to be well polished to look good. No choice of colour - dark grey.

OK, you can use coloured cement instead of natural cement. The idea of using cement render to give the natural look withou joint. Coloured cement would not look natural. Coloured cement floor is commonly used in utilitarian factory floors. Anyway, people used cement rendered floor in the old days because they cannot afford better finishes. Of course, polishing the cement to make it shine is the expensive part.

Marble is easier to maintain? How easy is it to repolish marble when a place has been occupied? You not only have to clear everything from the floor, the whole place has to be flooded with water while the work is carried out.
If you want the shiny look, polised homogenous tiles (not ceramic tiles) is lasting.

http://www.ehow.com/about_6459370_marble-f...s_-ceramic.html

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Jan 30 2012, 12:00 PM

I use 2ft x 2ft Iranian marble, 2ft x 1ft local marble and homogenenous tiles(kitchen) for my house.
Even though the marble slabs came polished, I had to repolish them again before I moved in as scratches are unavoidable with the various work being carried out. There's no way I can have the marble polished again now.