Your installer is correct. Most travertine contains many holes that are filled with a cement filler. The cement filler does not take a shine when polished—hence the dull spots. The floor you observed at the hotel has probably been coated with a wax or made uniformly shiny through some other coating process. I would not recommend this for your home. A hotel spends every evening polishing and or waxing the travertine floor to maintain its shine; unless you would like to do the same, I would advise against it.
Article ID: 557
Created: January 20, 2022
Last Updated: January 20, 2022
Author: Pam Freitag
Online URL: https://sr-manual.com/kb/article/the-shine-on-our-travertine-marble-floor-has-not-looked-even-since-it-was-installed-many-areas-have-dull-spots-the-installer-told-us-this-was-characteristic-of-the-stone-but-i-ve-noticed-that-a-local-hotel-has-the-same-travertine-and-it-loo-557.html