Most of the hotels in Madeira are perched on hills...its difficult fo find a flat bit. You might want to have a look at the hotel Porto Santa Maria...well located near the old town of Funchal and near the cable car station for trips up to Monte.

Last Nov we stayed at the Eden Mare, just above the Lido but below the main road. Very nice and no traffic noise. Also near the Solar d'ajuda restaurant where you must go and order'steak on the stone'. yummy.

Can you give me some idea of the weather when you were there. Also I know that Funchal is Hilly so how is the transport for getting around. Are there flatter bits?

The public transport in both Funchal and the rest of the island is very good , as this web site shows :-

http://www.madeiraweb.info/indexet/madeira/touristguide/tourism.html#buses

The same page gives information on the weather.

We are off to the island in September and have booked an apartment just a street back from the marina . That area of the town looks fairly flat.

This is the website of the apartment. :-

http://www.madeiraapartments.com/avenuepark/index.html