We've had Corian, which was nice but needed polishing and special cleaners to keep it looking its best. We've had granite and that was fine (and made it easier to sell the house because buyers are fixated on the stuff), but overall we prefer laminate because of the wide variety of color/pattern/texture choices. Changing it out isn't expensive and gives the kitchen a nice pick-me-up.
We had a "modern" 50s era Eichler house in California and put in the retro boomerang pattern laminate when we redid the kitchen. If I was a writer for a design magazine, I'd call it kicky.
