I vote tile. I'm not a fan of cleaning grout, but since discovering the art of squeegeeing after a shower, the cleaning is no longer a big deal. It removes all the excess water and soap/shampoo & we're good to go. Cleaning entails a once a month (if that) spray down of the walls and a once weekly spray down and quick scrub of the floor. No mold, no mildew, no grout to scrub with a toothbrush. Plus tile is a pretty timeless material choice.

A surround is definitely easier & quicker to install, but does not have the same look as tile. I also find them more difficult to clean (they seem to hold on to soap residue more than tile in my experience). Plus you have to be very careful what cleansers you use as they are more easily scratched and dulled than tile.

Just my $0.02. Hope it helps!

Am in a similar boat. No fire, but are redoing Master bath, and I'm still torn between cultured marble walls...(much simpler, easy to clean, but far more expensive), and tile walls. Surround is different, it takes up space and leaves you with less useable space in the shower (as walls/corners are usually curved and shelves take up even more space). I haven't had tile walls in a shower for years, but now that I've had a glass and cultured marble shower in the basement for 4yrs+ have gotten used to the squeegee routine, so maybe a tiled wall wouldn't be the horrendous cleaning nightmare that I recall from previous homes....

We are DIY'ers, so tiling for us would be a much cheaper alternative to the cultured marble walls. Much more work though, so totally get where you're coming from. If you go surround, I would do the squeegee routine anyways, and even a microfibre cloth wipe-down regularly to help keep it looking like new!