Is it not mold? I’d open the pillow slips and have a good look. You have a right to ask for different pillows.

@LornaLove…Indeed, thanks for your answer :)

Most likely it is the materials in the the pillow or it’s covering. Maybe someone murdered a pig in the room or maybe it’s just your nose.
I have a new comforter that smells like popcorn. I washed it, it still smells like popcorn, to me.

Maybe it smells like ham to someone else. lol
I have no idea why hotel pillows would smell like ham but I wouldn’t want to put my face on them. Ick! This Q. really should be in soical, the humorous potential is limitless.

You definitely have the right to call the from desk and tell them , and you want different pillows.

How odd. Is it possible that the bedding tumbled in the dryer along with the restaurant linen?

I would call the front desk and have housekeeping bring new pillows.

Check out.

I normally stay at the cheapest place possible. I would just wrap the pillows in the cum-stained blanket that doesn’t reek of ham and call it a night.

My bed at home is probably worse.

I always take my own pillow when I travel. If I am not satisfied with anything in the room I have been assigned, I ask for changes, either a new room, or new pillows or whatever. I have often asked for clean sheets to cover the sofa or chair, which is not clean enough for me.

I always take a can of Lysol with me to spray every surface and I use Clorox wipes liberally. I have also asked housekeeping to prepare a room extra clean for a handicapped (immune deficient) person.

What does ham smell like? Savoury and smoke. Both make perfect sense for something which is frequently in contact with people’s heads. Savoury comes from yeast (which grows naturally on the scalp), and smoke comes from smokers (I’m sure you’ve noticed smokers’ hair tends to absorb smoke smell).

The cleaning crew probably did not bother to change the sheets. As a frequent traveler and patron of many hotels this is not at all surprising. Sometimes I bring my own sleeping bag.

Sometimes some of the new foam pillows have weird smells. I got some name brand ones which I had to return to the store because they had a weird chemical smell. I wouldn’t think it’s the linen from the hotel because they clean that in super-hot water and with chemicals like bleach to kill anything that’s on them.

Was there a wood fired restaurant on the premises? Like Crapper Barrel? If so, I would complain and leave for another hotel.

If there wasn’t a wood fired restaurant on-site, I’d raise holy hell and leave for another hotel. Complain to corporate, if there is one, and write a bad on-line review.

Bed clothes should not smell like meat. Any kind of meat. Ever.

I spent 25+ years working in the hotel industry, including five as a hotel inspector all over the US.

What to do: If there are instructions on the room phone on how to contact the housekeeping dept., then use it. If no one happens to be in the dept. at the time, the phone is typically set to roll over to the front desk.

What would make a pillow smell like ham? There is really no way for any of us to know. The bottom line is that if it smells odd, then it will very possibly make for an uncomfortable stay if not addressed. No employee will want that and would rather solve the problem on the front end rather than hear about it at check-out when it’s too late.

Science has proven that the ham smell in pillows is from the outgassing of ear wax while you sleep.

Going out on a limb here I will guess you are referring to a foam pillow as opposed to a down pillow. Foam pillows are made from polyurethane foams and polyurethane foam is made with a polyall and reacted with an isocyante to create this wonderful cushiony foam. Isocyantes are overall sweet smelling and can and do outgas for a while and will give newer pillows and beds for that matter this ham smell you are describing. Trust me…I am not a scientist or a chemist but I produce and sell polyurethane foams and go home smelling like ham everyday! ! lol

Cruiser editorial: Isocyantes are bad…REAL bad for you but the pillow, mattress and couch manufacturers do not want you to know this and just how bad iso’s are for you not to metion all the other chemicals in their products. Some isocyantes are known to also cause severe allergic reactions and I have known people to go into anaphylactic shock from breathing iso’s and require medical assistance. Don’t just take my word on this

@johnpowell But don’t you care whether it’s your own ham-scented pillows and semen-stained blanket, as opposed to some anonymous stranger’s ham-scented pillows and semen-stained blanket?

Bed Clothes smell pleasantly by current, modern , definition.

@Love_my_doggie :: I haven’t been sober in a hotel for over 20 years. I don’t really care if I get dirty.

Tell them to change fabric softener!

I’d cut the cheese.

@Cruiser The ham smell theory in pillows is news to me. Can you provide a link to the science report that has proven it? I searched and couldn’t find one.