I think your pool guy is crazy :)

If mottling is a concern, stay far away from colored plaster, including grey.

Pebble Sheen / Pebble Tec (the real things) will both look great years and years down the road if installed correctly.

It' all relative to your situation. If spending the extra is not a concern, stick with sheen. I will add that some certain projects of mine look better with a colored plaster than they do a sheen...some tuscan style homes and french chateau projects needed that old world mottling look.

I personally do not like Pebble Tec. Far too coarse for me. I had 3M Quartz Plaster in my prior pool and loved that. Much better on your feet!

Go with what you like. Bottom line is, you're the one that has to live with it.

Thanks for the comments. I am intrigued by the thought of the 'old world mottling look' in theory, but not sure what it would look like in reality.

My sister has a medium gray plaster pool, and it looks really pretty. She has small steps, and the pool is fairly deep, so it's not as if you are looking at shallow water much. This is somewhat the case for my pool too.

Maybe I will just go for the pebble sheen french grey. I saw a pool with this and loved it.

i just had quartzscapes quartz installed and i like it so far. they have a french grey color. good compromise between smoothness and durability imo.