ozstamps,

thank you for your kind comments!

AFAIK, Absheron is operated by several companies, i.e. almost each floor is operated as a semi-independent hotel. That could be the reason if you keep finding different prices (and varying degrees of availability).

I actually visited a room in Absheron (a friend from London had a room in the hotel) - nothing spectacular, but perfectly acceptable by my standards.

The location is pretty good as you noted; the centre is not far away, and the sea is literally across the road from Absheron.

"For things like taxis did you pay in local money or $US cash?"

- always local currency ("manat", IIRC). I think the standard rate was one "sirvan", i.e. 10,000(?) manat note - so you simply stated where you wanted to go, and then said "one sirvan, ok?". Taxis to/from a/p might have been a different story (pay with USD, probaby in the region of 15USD)

"One report I read said if taxi guy argues, just hand over a couple of $$ notes for city fare, get out and walk away and all will be cool."

- I think that'd be the correct thing to do if you have agreed on the fare before starting (as you should). It's always a problem w/ us Finns abroad though, we tend to get confused in those kind of situations

BTW, the town of Sumgait is not far away from Baku (40km). Some friends visited the place, and apparently it's quite different (i.e. backward?) compared with Baku. Possibly worth a visit...
http://www.travel-images.com/az-sumgait.html

okko