Tenants, particularly students and young professionals, seem to be almost incapable of cleaning tile and you will eventually have ugly, stained grout lines.We still put soaker tubs and tile surrounds in our higher end rentals, but are doing so for the aesthetics.When we do use a 3-5 piece tub-surround, we never put them directly on the framing, but alway use a backer - rigid foam/rock board/mould resistant sheetrock - to prevent the surround from warping.

LOTS of reasons:- Stains the walls and ceilings when people smoke inside- Gets inside the carpeting and makes the house smell bad -- really gets into curtains and furniture too- Can make burn holes in carpets- People put them on the counter tops and they wind up causing stains/burn marks- People flush them down the toilet and it causes clogs- Butts litter the ground around the house because smokers seem to think littering butts is okay (when did just throwing a used butt out your car window or anywhere outside on the ground become "okay"???)

Kilz original for sealing stink and tannin/stain hiding.

LVT just plain works.But have you considered sealed or stained concrete if the slab is concrete.