If you like the quiet life Battambang is very pleasant. As for Siem Reap, I guess if you stayed for long enough the hawkers would start to recognise you.
Haven't been to Battambang but it's on my list of places to check out. I'd be quicker to explore places like that if I spoke some Khmer. I prefer traveling in Vietnam generally because I can speak the language well enough now.
Battambang is a great place, one my favorite places to spend time in Cambodia.