bathtub decision

the guys are planning to frame in the new master bathroom / walk-in closet walls tonight. so...we have to decide today if we want a 1 piece fiberglass tub/shower insert (since it won't fit inside the bathroom thru the door later) or if we are going to just get a tub and tile the surround like in the guest bath (the tub alone would fit thru the door later).

tiling the shower surround is a lot of work (i think it took several weeks of solid work from dave, staying up till 2-3 a.m. every night last summer, if not more, to do the guest bath shower surround) and we already have the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room floors to tile as well the kitchen counters and backsplash. so...i'm leaning towards getting the 1 piece unit.

we went to lowe's at 6:45 this morning to look at it together. i looked at it last night while dave was at a meeting. the 1 piece unit's tub is narrower and shallower than the one that we put in the guest bath, but it's the only choice if you want a 1 piece unit. and the soap shelf is in kind of an awkward location. and if we tile, we can put in a huge wall niche to store soap/bottles, that won't even encroach on the shower space. and the tub would be deeper and wider. with it being the master bath, dave hates to put in a smaller tub than the guest bath...but...i don't know. i'm just trying to make his life easier. plus, i want a blue and white bathroom. if we tile, we'll have to introduce some other color scheme cuz dave doesn't want to do white tiles with white grout. he would choose a tile that can have a dark grout like in our other bathroom. i also think it would be easier to clean the 1 piece unit. tile is a monster that i'm not that familiar with.

and then there's the price issue as well...the 1 piece unit is $330.

the other tub is $240 and then if we do 12" tiles, we will have roughly $90 in tiles (actually more, because the bull nose tiles for the edges cost more) plus $30 backer board, plus grout and adhesive, etc. if we do 6" tiles, the tiles will cost more like $270.

I think the 1 piece unit would be more cost effective. Another reason I'm leaning that way. Dave's going to think about it today while he works and maybe he'll reach a decision. But let me know if any of you have an opinion.