The fabric is really nice; a thick linen. Food spots from kids can be wiped clean with a damp cloth (when cleaned right away). Haven't scotch guarded mine yet, but plan to. 
We ordered the beige coloured ones and they are more of a sand colour (grey/beige), which we like better! 
One of my only criticisms is that the seams aren't perfect and the back of each is slightly different from each other and itself... but this isn't a huge deal for us. From a far, they are great, it's just when you look close you can see these differences. It wouldn't deter me from buying them again tho! I also wanted them to lower even more to table height and they don't. They are definitely counter or could go up to a bar height. 
The base goes up and down with ease. And the black matte base is soooo nice! We had chrome last time and these look so rich in comparison! I recommend them.