If you wash dishes at the sink and leave them to dry I would say grooves is fine. If you do not use a sink to wash dishes then it is pointless.

If you are short on worktop space then I wouldn't bother with the grooves at all.

We have had ariel silestone with grooves fitted for about 6 months and I do find the grooves do stain and are pretty pointless. If I could go back I wouldn't have grooves.

So, without recess/grooves do you think there would be much issue with water dripping into cupboards/drawers? I can’t imagine it as the would be a drying mat. The only reason I see for a recess etc is to channel the water into sink from wiping down counter.

I have groves and again wouldn’t bother if I was doing it again. However, I hardly hand wash anything, most goes in the dishwasher. I haven’t found they stain but I clean up a lot.

When I wash items that don't go in the dishwasher, I find the water just sits in the grooves. My problem is I don't clean the water up so I'm not tidy enough for grooves!

We have marble, and have no grooves or drainer. We bought a Bodum off white silicone drainer mat - it works well and doesn’t stand out in the kitchen.

I advise my customers not to bother and have the extra worktop space and use a tea towel or mat to put any washing up on. The grooves don't have enough fall in them to drain the water away so it just sits there and you get lime scale build up and they're harder to clean up.

With the recessed drainer again the water will just sit there as there isn't the fall to drain the water away but the water won't drip over the edge. Again you lose so much worktop having this and its an additional cost, much more expensive than just the grooves. I think your installer is giving you good advice.

Quartz is 100% sealed compared to granite and marble, but i'd still be careful and clear up any spills especially anything acidic and also not put hot pans on it, don't use it as a chopping board with sharp knives etc and it will look as good as new for years to come.

We've got grooves but put a drying mat over them so for us they weren't needed