Probably not going to help, but I am in a very similar situation. My wife isn't sold on the idea of a hood, and only agreed to it reluctantly. Our kitchen is not very large, and she thinks the hood will be visually overwhelming.

The original design called for down draft ventilation behind the island cooktop, but I think an overhead hood will provide better ventilation at lower noise levels. I also hope an island hood will provide a focal point, and add visual interest to what I am afraid might be a rather plain kitchen remodel.

I agreed to go with the hood she preferred, over the one I initially liked. It's a glass plate model that may look less bulky. I have my own doubts about putting up a hood, and can see my wife's point, so I went as far as making a rough cardboard mockup, and taping it to the ceiling to check sight lines to our garden window.

And to complicate the matter, our ceiling is lower than the hood's minimum specification, so some creative installation will be required.

I can't post a picture until next month when our kitchen remodel is to be done.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our planned Hood

I, too, considered the downdraft but there's no way they are powerful enough for a gas cooktop let alone with a grill.

My husband and our friends who have one are so excited about it. They think it will be the focal point of the kitchen and make my kitchen go from being like everyone elses to something just a little bit "more".

I like the glass one a lot because it is not so overwhelming but I don't think I would want to try to keep that piece of glass clean! (I hate cleaning!)

I'm sure your remodel will be beautiful. We are always second guessing ourselves aren't we?

Can't wait to see your pics. You post yours and I will post mine!

Good luck.

I like the look of our island hood. It is not a shy retiring style, but a real hefty one. I love how it looks with the lights on at night and once it gets moved to the correct height (and the suction gets restored), it will be photo worthy. Right now, it is too low and that bothers us. We got it at a scratch and dent store for less than half of retail, so that sold us on it immediately, lol. It fits the straightforward look we are going for. We wanted one that looks functional and not too trendy. Our kitchen has a vintage vibe and since island hoods were not used years ago, we wanted to keep it simple.

Here is our hood as it shows on Amazon. When it was working, it was super powerful. The installers put it in the wrong place, then the wrong height ("fixed" the height and it is still several inches too low) and along the way, it does not suction. It is not the hood's fault but the fault of the %^$&($ gcs and their crew!
I can't replace it for anywhere near what we paid, so it had better be fixable.

Here is a link that might be useful: our hood

Check out the island hoods by Futuro Futuro. We got the Murano Glow & love it as it's sculptural, works fabulously and also functions as room lighting.

Here is a link that might be useful: Murano Glow on Amazon

Go to ventingdirect dot com. You can search for island hoods with their search criteria. Many of the hoods, if you click on them to find more details, will show installed pics so you get sense of what they look like in a room. Also, go to the Finished Kitchen Blog and look at kitchens there. I'm not sure if you can search for island hoods yet, but you'll see plenty of great kitchens.

Here are a few I hope they help you.
bp

Hood Bob Silve

Spiker Woodworking

Earthwise cabinetry

Penthouse cooking

LG Prestige Kitchen Boston

Chicago Downtown

Mutschler Kitchen inc. Blake

Kitchen Assoication MA

Meg Mcmillan Blog