MOST cities today have their own classic luxury hotel. Kuala Lumpur has the Majestic Hotel, Penang has the Eastern and Oriental while Singapore has the Raffles. Up north, Bangkok has the Oriental, Hong Kong is proud of its Peninsula and Yangon has The Strand. Ipoh has none, however.
In the 19th century, the tin mining boom influenced much of the present-day colonial buildings at Ipoh Old Town. One of the most captivating colonial buildings there is the Ipoh Railway Station, which is often referred to as the Taj Mahal of Ipoh due to its minarets, columns, arches and tower topped with a cupola. The architecture of this majestic edifice was the result of a hybrid between neoclassical and the Mughal architecture of India which is referred as Indo-Saracenic.