Replace vs Refinish in small area

We have a wood floor on a kitchen project that we were planning to refinish. It’s a small area (~100 sq ft).

A contractor we are working with on other parts of the project said it might be easier to just rip and replace rather than refinish. We’d be DIY’ing either way, and with wood flooring available at 3-5$/sq ft not significantly more expensive.

There definitely is part where there was water damage repaired at some point. It was done well, and I can see the subfloor from below, so I don’t have to rip it up, but it probably would make me feel better if I did.

That said, this feels insane as the wood floor is in decent shape. Looks like some kind of oak. It needs a refinish to be sure, but other than that is fine.

Any thoughts on refinish vs replace in this case? Either way it’s DIY. I’ve gone flooring before (but not wood), but I’ve never done refinishing, so I’m not 100% sure what I’m getting into.