Chicago Horse & Carriage Ltd

Had a terrible experience with this company. My boyfriend bought me a night out with a dozen roses and scheduled this rides weeks prior to my birthday.
Well day of, we get there, sit around for hours and there wasn’t a carriage from this company to be found! It’s the middle of summer so no need for weather advisories! When we called no one answered! Even during normal business hours the phone just rang and says visit the website. Which no one responds to! This was such a hurtful experience because my boyfriend had the day planned out and they dropped the ball!
Never ever ever use them!

Just was beside one of their horses on Oak and State and the horse was severely foaming at the mouth and seemed a little distraught. This horse should not be working.

Garbage. Purchased a ride online for 11 – 27, Thanksgiving. The hours on their Google listing stated that they were operating until 9:00pm. They were not operating when we arrived at 7:00pm. We called the office, and the woman was extremely rude… told me that they do not issue refunds. We ended up paying another carriage company onsite. Do not book ahead with this company.

This was really more enjoyable then I even thought! It took me through the city and had me see it in a completely new way. It felt of another time! On a nice evening, this is really quite magical! If you’ve never done it, go do it!

I purchased a 45min ride for ¹²⁄₂₀₁₁ @ $ 60 (actual date unknown). Anyway, due to the Chicago frigged winter weather I was unable to use my voucher at that time.
I just used it on Memorial Day 5÷28÷2012. Due to the original purchase date, they weren’t gonna honor it (driver questioned it) they radioed into Stacey who I had communicated w/​originally she informed me that there is a time frame. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you what the time frame for voucher use is, and I have looked up and down for the info on their WEB page and I still do not see it.
Nevertheless, they were very gracious and honored partial ride on them (so to speak) I paid for a 45min ride (originally) but received a 30min ride. I thank them for their cooperation, it was a beautiful night with a great person, and something that neither one of us had done before, a night for us to remember, and I would go again in a heart beat. Cece the driver, and Milo the horse were awesome and I highly recommend this romantic adventure with this particular company. Just in case of bad weather (heat, tornado, typhoon, hurricane, snow storm etc… Find out the voucher policy… lol
A very satisfied customer,
Tracy~

Made a reservation 2 weeks in advance. Inquired how close they would be to pick up time and was told they do not promise a puck up time at all. Asked to cancel the reservation and refund money. Company refused to refund money. Filed a dispute with my credit card and was emailed after the fact by a rude individual acting shocked I would want a refund after canceling a reservation they themselves said they could not adhere to. Dispute knowing I would not use their service, they opted to keep my money. Poor business practice at best.

30 minute ride for $ 40 + tip!
It was a wonderful experience being taken around the city on a horse carriage.
You can choose to take a ride by the lake or a ride in the city, we chose the lake to get away from all the traffic. But I’m sure either choice would be good.
Our driver Bruno and his horse Genie were awesome!

Everything was perfect. Our driver was awesome and had a great sense of humor. Took a 30 minute coach ride and stopped to propose at a mansion in the Gold Coast. Would highly recommend buying tickets in advance as the cash wait was over 2 hrs long. With advance purchase we didn’t even wait 20 minutes. Coach was clean and cozy with blankets. There is a Ghirardelli across the street from the start position and I highly recommend getting a cup of hot chocolate for the ride. They were polite and perfect. Will do again and a perfect way to propose! Thanks you Jen!

This was a lot of fun and interesting. We had a new horse being trained for the streets of Chicago. The trainer was from Poland and didn’t speak much English, but the horse understood and we had no issues with a new horse. Both drivers took us through old Chicago. Great ride and not vey expensive for a 30 minute tour. Everyone should do at least once while near the Magnificent mile.

I took my wife on a «romantic» Christmas lights carriage ride, and the ride itself was great. We saw all the hot spots.
Be prepared to wait in line. We had a reservation for 8:00 pm and arrived early. We were in line for an hour. There are no signs and no schedule. Be prepared to wait.

Was disappointed. Took my wife out for a romantic evening which included a romantic carriage ride. We waiting a short while in line (which was completely okay) but when we were put in a carriage we sat there for about 15 – 20 minutes waiting for our driver who was no where to be found. When he finally arrived he was having an argument with one of the other workers. He then greeted us with «hey I can’t take you out for any more then ½ hour because I’ve got other customers.» Kind of a rude way to start off a romantic ride. He just seemed miserable to be there. We still had a good time… just didn’t appreciate how rude our driver was.

My now fiancé had arranged for a carriage ride because we go to Chicago often and I’ve always wanted to ride on one! Anyways being the sweetheart my fiancé is planned this months in advance for our proposal. Our horses name was pebbles and our drivers name was CiCi who got an extra tip because she had to work on her birthday! They have different carriages for proposing. It was in October and it was cold and my fiancé got the extra blanket they offered for 50 bucks. A little pricey but it was a one time thing! It was a nice ride, the driver was friendly. She took us down to the bucking ham fountain where my fiancé proposed and they offered flowers afterwards. The carriage was cozy. Only a few times was pebbles startled by the loud cars. A garbage truck did pull up next to us. I was for sure I was going to be the «runaway bride». It was 2 hours long and it was a moment I won’t forget! I know it’s cheaper if youre just doing a regular ride, but I do recommend this company as the people were very nice and helped my fiancé out a lot with planning it! The price is the reason for only 4 stars!

Want to get taken for a ride? Then buy a voucher from these cowards. You’d have better luck blowing $ 40 at the casino.
I purchased a ride voucher from Chicago Horse and Carriage on November 7^th. I received an auto-​reply e-​mail from
: «Thank you for contacting Chicago Horse \& Carriage Ltd. This is an auto reply email. Someone will respond to you within 24hrs. Thank you» Nobody contacted me after this. I tried calling several times to schedule a confirmation date reservation as it instructs to on their website but nobody answered the phone. We drove to Chicago from Milwaukee to their Michigan Avenue location. We saw a carriage leaving the square, then waited an hour and a half for it to return to hopefully schedule a ride in person. We tried calling three more times while waiting in the cold, and also walked around the square trying to find their physical address or a storefront, which apparently does not exist. It never returned, so we drove home. This was not between 4−6pm, there was no weather advisory, nor was it below 15 degrees. There should have been no reason there was no carriage present for so long or that nobody would answer the phone for us to make a reservation. I realize the fine print states that the voucher expires within 14 days, but when nobody is available to schedule a reservation and the service was physically unavailable during posted business hours, I believe I deserve at least a refund, and definitely an explanation. If the volume of reservations can’t be realistically manifested, the vouchers should have a longer expiration period. It’s a scam.
Don’t waste your money. I was denied when disputing the purchase on PayPal because apparently ‘non-​tangible items’ are not covered by their protection policy. I’m sure Chicago Carriage is well aware of this, so that’s why they didn’t even bother responding to the claim.
Funny that all 6 previous negative reviews from a couple months ago on Google have disappeared. They averaged one star. Tabula Rasa!

My daughter saw the horse & carriage and asked if we can take a ride. Eh, why not. We thought it would be a nice way to see Chicago.
Our driver was nice — she answered whatever questions we had, but I thought she would offer information about the sights we were seeing, more like a tour guide.
She took us through Downtown Chicago, to the Gold Coast neighborhood and down Lake Michigan. It was definitely a good experience.
Positives:
1. Unique way to view the city
2. Cozy
3. Romantic yet good for a family
Negatives:
1. A little pricey
2. Takes cash only

5-​stars for the experience itself — cozy, fairly warm (even though it was December), and endlessly romantic. The driver was polite, but really didn’t say anything (which was a good thing).
1-​star for the reservation process — the website, while aesthetically pleasing, was lacking in any information, and as such I was almost bilked out of half my carriage ride (I wanted a separate drop-​off spot, so I was told to purchase 2 – 45 minute rides… So, 90 minutes and then we’ll be dropped off, right? Nope, apparently the second 45 minutes was for «the carriage to go back to Pearson and Michigan,» which was at most 10 minutes from our modified drop point. I had to have the driver call the lady at the company and tell her we’ll just go back with it… Who would pay double just to be dropped off at Millenium Park? According to this woman that was a reasonable endeavor.)

It was my wife’s 40^th birthday and her one request was to take a carriage ride on Michigan Ave. My kids were with, ages 7 and 9. I went through PayPal thinking that this would be the quicker, no wait, way to go. Boy was I wrong. As we waited in line for our carriage another line was around the corner for the public, with no wait. Because we paid with PayPal we had to wait 45 min. for our carriage. As carriages kept coming in and the public line with no wait kept getting on, we got more frustrated. It was cold and the kids were tired. That being said, the carriage ride was great. It was cold outside but the carriage was warm and cozy. It was wonderful to take a carriage ride over Christmas with all the lights to see. We all loved the ride.

After having a wonderful experience with Gold Coast that operates about a block away, we decided to take the Chicago Horse & Carriage Ltd. tour from the Water Tower during a quite nice afternoon (see photos).
As you can see they are waiting at the Water Tower, and you select the first Carriage in line. Our driver did not take credit cards, cash only, but the price was very reasonable. (About $ 80 with tip). And after getting addicted to these rides a few months before when taking a different company home to our hotel, this time we wanted the whole enchilada. We asked for the longest most wide ranging tour they had, and they took us all the way around town, with the driver giving us notes, very laid back voice tour. And then we clopped all the way down the Miracle Mile and the waterfront.
The cars and cabs are surprisingly respectful to the Horse and Carriage (something you would never find in Houston) haha, and we had an absolutely wonderful time. This company that always has a line up at the Water Tower (see our photos) comes with our highest recommendation for anything on Unilocal.Very, very solid 5 stars. Totally excellent. Lifetime memory to be made here for under $ 100. Bring your camera!