In Malaysia I've been to Penang (multiple times), KL, Melaka, and Langkawi. Enjoyed them all but no great need to revisit. 

But I'm looking for some place different.

Ipoh sounds really good on paper.

It's rather inconvenient as you can't fly there, but I guess flying into Penang and then a two hour bus ride would be OK.

I often like to combine travel with scouting for expat destination Plan B options, but in this case that's out as none of the Malaysia my second home would work for me. Oh well. 

So I'm sure many of you know Ipoh or even live there.

Is it as good as it sounds?

I've been twice and it's a nice city although not remarkable in any way. It has a sizeable old town with plenty of crumbling colonial-era buildings a la Penang but without the hordes of tourists. There's a small Little India too, which is great for food. Food in general is abundant as with anywhere in Malaysia although Chinese food predominates as it is a Chinese majority city. Despite this, nightlife is fairly low-key but obviously there are places to drink. I think for actual sight-seeing, you'd probably need to venture outside of the city as that's where sights like Kellie's Castle are as well as some caves.

 

In short, it's worth visiting but, like most Malysian cities, three nights/two days is probably enough to enjoy all it has to offer. You could combine it with a trip to nearby Taiping, which is said to be a pleasant little city. You can also get a train from Butterworth as well as the bus from Penang.

The Ipoh bus station is a long way from the centre.

Plenty of trains from KL or Butterworth to the centre of Ipoh.

I would recommend Taiping as better. The Lake Gardens are wonderful.

Similar to Penang with some street art and a hill. Much smaller scale.

Small enuff to walk around.