Talking from both sides...in our old house we had Gloss cupboards our new house now we have Matt cupboars... Gloss: to clean all we needed to do was just do one quick wipe over with window shine and a cloth, they always looked beautiful and shinny...they even added money on when we sold our house!! Absolutly LOVED them...would fully recommend them Matt: to clean...there is now three stages...hot water and sugar soap to get rid of the finger marks and oils, then a wet cloth after that then you have to dry it or it looks terrible!!! i hate our cupboards now...so much effort to keep them looking nice and they are very dull but it just depends what look you are aiming for!! Good Luck...and let us know what you end up choosing!!

Glossy finishes have improved a lot over time. Fingerprints don't seem to be as much of an issue anymore,. except for the darker colours. I had white gloss in my last place and you couldnt really see any prints but everything wiped off soooo easy. A dream!

Its going to stick out no matter what you do. Is there no budget to reface the cupboard doors and drawers? My Only Suggestion is to not do a White Gloss and instead use a Ravine laminate or a totally different colour and use the colour somewhere else in the kitchen like the off cuts for a frame for some artwork. Or on the kicks. If its going to stick out, and it will, then go all out. The next best option is go to a joinery company ask if you can take some off cuts out of the bin, make a temporary shelf and save up so you can do everything at the one time. If you redo the kitchen you will end up redoing that cabinet to get a consistent colour. Even with colour matching there is still slight differences because one is new and the other is old.

Can you get a couple of samples and test them? I can imagine as with other surfaces, the gloss is easier to clean than the matt, unless perhaps the matt is treated with some kind of coating, as Kate described. The people who have told you about the difference in maintenance are right to make sure you know there is a difference. But maybe the difference isn't that significant if your personal preference is the matt? It might be worth getting a sample of each and taking it home and spilling some typical cooktop splashes on them, letting them dry and seeing how they clean up after? That might help you decide if the matt would be much more trouble or not too bad.