Hot Springs Carriage Company

It was my first time on a horse and carriage ride. The people were nice. We did the holiday tour through downtown to get a view of the lights. The guy was nice enough to take us back to our car.

It was a nice little ride, seen some of downtown are and through one of the park's. The driver was nice and informative.

Paid $30 for ride and paid $10 tip for a silent ride with what the driver said”was 21 year old horse named Babe and needed to be retired”. The driver asked us what we’re we wanting to see a restaurant tour, a Main Street tour we told her a history tour. We headed south back down Central Ave maybe 4 blocks went back by the fire station. The only two things she said were “oh the fireman aren’t out tonight they are very friendly” and “this old warehouse used to be a cheese factory”. We then went back to Arlington. My heart broke for the poor horse. Yes that was our history tour. A waste of $40 and our time.

We have ridden with this group a few times in the past and had a good time. Seeing all the lights down town Hot Springs at night and enjoying the ride. This year we ended having to meet them at their stables away from town cause they closed early, right after dark. Paid and then added a tip of over double what the charge was just to be nice and then actually went a few blocks then turned around, never made it to the lights and it lasted maybe 15 minutes. This was a horrible experience. My wife and I were totally confused and when they dropped us off they rushed us cause now they had more people to go pick up not meet at stables like we had too. I would not even give this a 1 out of 10. Horrible. Looks like someone needs to bring anew stable company to this town. It used to be something fun to do with family at nite especially during The Holidays. Horrible.

We started at the Arlington Hotel. The driver turned to the left on Whittington & continued down this dark street. No lights, not even street lights. The horse almost came to a complete stop & was barely moving. He said he took this route because he had problems with the horse earlier. He knew there were problems with the horse, he should have stopped doing the rides. We paid $45 for nothing. I also gave him a tip because it’s the right thing to do. Never again!

Our driver implied several times about tips. Number one thing that turns us off to a service. We were already on the ride and our youngest wanted it so badly she paid with her own money. She only had a $20 bill at the end of the ride (after paying over $40 for all of us to ride) and she felt obligated to give it to the driver. He was obnoxious and sarcastic. He didn't know some of the buildings and we are sure his horse was overtired. She was panting so hard and he mentioned how she wouldn't drink. It was very hot and humid. It is a shame that the driver didn't recognize that this little girl was paying with her hard earned money and that she had more than paid with the fees that were quoted.

There are two routes that you can choose from: the park or downtown. We chose downtown as it was night. Our driver was friendly and knowledgeable of the history of downtowna lot of fun information. The carriage was comfortable and the blanket was warm. Our horse was even smart enough to check for traffic before pulling away from the curb. I haven't been on many carriage rides but I suspect the cost is in line with what is normal, $30 plus tip. Overall, it is definitely something I'd do again.

Nice ride. Took in many downtown sites. Told about the darker side of Hot Springs including where Bill Clinton went to high school.

There was a young man conducting our ride. He told us we would have to wait a while he was taking a break. We asked if our autistic daughter could ride up front, he responded with " yeah, but you will have to wait, and walked away, and started talking to a teenage girl. After about 20 minutes he returned to the carriage, loaded the young girl in the front. He told us " ih well sorry, but your kid can ride in back". The ride consisted of about a 15 minute vride of watching him flirt! What a waist of money! I would never recommend this service!*

We loved the carriage ride and gave us good history of the town. Our guide was the owner of the grandson and he was very knowledgeable for being so young.