So, you're talking about three walls of floor-to-ceiling slab granite,with seams at only the corners and where the bottoms of the walls meet the shower pan?

Look on Houzz.com
Here is one of my favorites. I love a granite called Atlas (at Daltile that is not on their website and Atlas on Houzz looks completely different) that would look perfect as a huge island or like this.

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[Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by Denver Lighting 186 Lighting Design Group - Gregg Mackell

This post was edited by zookeeper93 on Fri, Oct 17, 14 at 16:33

Wow, that is not what I meant but that is spectacular!

I meant slabs of granite floor to ceiling around the perimeter of the shower instead of tile.

I am not a granite expert by any means but I have lately spent a ton of time at slab yards. Granite commonly comes in 2 thicknesses. 2 cm and 3 cm. I would think a 2cm would work just fine for a shower enclosure. That said, not all granite is going to come in both sizes at your yard, so you may have to look around. Granite is not always universally named and different stores can call the same granite by different names.
At Arizona Tile in Dallas, a granite is named Giallo Santo, At Daltile, it is Giallo Ornamental.
If you liked the granite at the hotel, find out it's name. I would also look on Houzz.com and search granite showers. Some are beautiful. Some would cause stress. Here are a few I think is what you are thinking of:

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[Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by San Jose Interior Designers & Decorators Almaden Interiors, Inc.

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[Modern Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2105) by Oakland General Contractors Mueller Nicholls Cabinets and Construction

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[Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by Champlin Photographers Ehlen Creative Communications

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[Mediterranean Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/mediterranean-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2109) by Woodinville Tile, Stone & Countertops Stone Pros Marble and Granite, Inc.

I love the statements single sheets can make.

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[Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by Sarasota Design-Build Firms J. E. TUCKER, INC.

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[Transitional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2112) by Durham Photographers Steven Paul Whitsitt Photography

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[Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by Oklahoma City Tile, Stone & Countertops Young Brothers

If you have a 400 square foot bath, with french doors for access, and a 100K budget, sure you can do one of those Houzz baths. Heavy stone hung vertically requires a lot of engineering. And stainless brackets and rivets and the right adhesive. Lots of expensive manpower. And room to maneuver.

No, we have a small bathroom, a limited budget. We just saw it in a fairly non-expensive hotel and looking at tile costs, thought it might not be that much more. I'm not looking for the statement showers seen above, again the one I saw had 4 slabs (one on each end, two on the side) over a standard tub. Dark stone. I figured slapping up 4 slabs against the wall might not be that much more than the cost of doing all the tile work. But most of the above are way more than we're looking for cost wise.

I just had a shower/tub surround done in inexpensive white subways. Approx. 60 sq.ft. total, plus one niche. Take out the tub and there would be a lot more.

My GC gave me a $3K allowance for tile work, materials + labor for which he subbed out. That also included a 33 sq.ft. tile floor. I have no idea who got the better deal for what I paid, me or my contractor. I think I got quite excellent work, so I'm happy and have no complaints.

For my bathroom, it works out at about $30/sq.ft. installed, using very budget-friendly tile.

I can't imagine what three slabs of granite, even the more prosaic varieties would set you back, including fabrication and install.

That first example shown (sorry I can't see the previous posts to given credit) looks like a small art gallery. Stupendous work by the Creator. The bench should be to sit in awe and gaze upon its awesomeness. Shaving legs?

Look at a local cultured marble company. They frequently do shower surrounds and will be about 10x cheaper.

The first thing I thought when you said it was a moderate hotel is that they used cultured granite. It's speckled where cultured marble is solid or swirled.

It's going to be thinner than a granite slab and quite a bit less expensive.

Another option that you may want to consider is a large format thin slab product, such as Neolith (imported from Spain) or Stone Peaks plane (imported from Italy).

I was planning to use the Stone Peaks plane (thin porcelain slab, 5 feet by 10 feet "tiles"); however, it may not work in my bathroom. Need to have flat walls with minimal interruption; otherwise, it's expensive to prepare the walls and cut around a window.

It is more labor-intensive to install a slab in a vertical application than horizontal.

You also do not have to have stone. Corian and Swanstone and other man-made solid surfaces are used for showers. Swanstone makes the bases, too. The walls only have caulking at the corners and the bottoms. Their colors are becoming more interesting, too. Spend a few rainy weekends online looking, then get some prices at local suppliers. If you are hiring out the remodel work, ask at the supplier if there is a contractor discount. My contractor passes this discount on to me when I order the supplies. I just give him the list of what I am buying and where, and he will order it and I pay the discounted price. He is a nice guy, though.

This is new construction. It's hard to know if contractor is being reasonable with any upgrade costs, so was hoping someone had done same and could give an idea. Very good info above, appreciate it. Will look at other manmade options as well, though I think they are more expensive than granite at least for slabs, but maybe not as thick / easier installation??

It isn't all that to install slab granite, just make sure the details are right.

Another option might be stone panels from StonePly. I cannot find actual weights just now on their website, but they claim the panels are light; they are certainly very thin. The panels are installed with one-inch blobs of structural silicone every 8-10 inches. They make tub surround kits and shower kits, and sell individual panels.

I'd like to find someone that has used them. They do have a nice selection of available (special order) stones.

bws

Here is a link that might be useful: StonePly stone types

Definitely going to look into stoneply, thanks for that reference.