Looking for an all-inclusive drinks holiday in Spain without the resort?

If you've searched for an all-inclusive drinks holiday in Spain, you've probably pictured a wristband, a swim-up bar and a lager that tastes mostly of ice. This is the other kind. At Casa Agara, an 18th-century hosted casona in the green Cabuérniga valley of Cantabria, the house wine, beer and spirits are poured all day and included in your week. There's no tab, no wristband, and no bar bill waiting for you at the end. It's simply there, the way a generous friend's house would be.

The difference is the setting. This is Green Spain, not the Costas: wild, forested, Atlantic and quiet, inside the Saja-Besaya nature reserve. You're not drinking to pass the time by a pool. You're having a cold beer because you've just walked in from the reserve, or a glass of wine with a home-cooked dinner, or a gin before the evening settles in.

Are the drinks really included all day?

Yes. Half board is part of the week: breakfast and a home-cooked dinner every day, with vegetables from the garden. On top of that, the house wine, beer and spirits are poured throughout the day, on the house. That last part is the bit most hosted holidays quietly leave off the page, or tuck into a bar bill you settle at checkout.

Here, there's nothing to settle. A drink when you get back from the beach, a glass while dinner's coming together, a nightcap on the terrace: none of it appears on a slip of paper. Rob and María, who host the house (with Chispa, the house dog, supervising), would rather you simply helped yourself than kept a running tally in your head.

Isn't "all-inclusive drinks" just a boozy resort in disguise?

That's a fair worry, and no. Included drinks in a big resort are built for volume, and it shows. Here it's the opposite: a hosted country house where a small group of guests share long dinners and slow evenings. The wine, beer and spirits are open because that's how the house works, not because anyone's counting units.

What that feels like in practice is ease rather than excess. Plenty of guests have a glass or two and stop there. Some have none at all. Nobody's timing you, upselling you a "premium" wristband, or watering the gin. Taking the price off the table just quietly removes the maths, the small constant sum you end up doing at every all-inclusive that turns out not to be quite all-inclusive.

What will I actually be doing between drinks?

The good stuff here is mostly outdoors and mostly free. Walking leads: straight from the door into the Saja-Besaya reserve, with the fringes and viewpoints of the Picos de Europa about an hour away. The wild Atlantic surf beaches are around forty minutes, and they're gentle enough for a first lesson at any age. Beyond that there's riding, cycling, yoga and quieter wellbeing days, painting, and fishing.

When you fancy a bit of culture, Santillana del Mar is about twenty minutes, Comillas has Gaudí's El Capricho, and the Altamira caves are close by. You'll see the Neocueva replica there, and you do need to book ahead. Santander airport is roughly an hour away, with direct UK flights from Stansted, Manchester and Edinburgh, so a beer on the terrace can be the same afternoon you left home.

Can I come on my own, or does it suit a group?

Both work. Individuals join a scheduled, per-person hosted week and come along alone or as a couple, sharing the house and the table with the other guests. Many of these weeks run with Spice Escapes, a UK operator (ATOL 9046 applies to flight-inclusive packages). A group who'd rather have the run of the place can take the whole house instead and bring their own party.

Either way, the drinks arrangement is the same: included, all day, no bill. The hosts will confirm exactly what's covered on the week you're looking at, so you know before you book rather than after.

If a week where you never once reach for your wallet at the bar sounds like your kind of Spain, tell us what you're after and start a conversation whenever you're ready.