Carnivore in hotel with desire to get ham, essentially (5)
I believe the answer is:
hyena
'carnivore' is the definition.
(hyena is a kind of carnivore)
'hotel with desire to get ham essentially' is the wordplay.
'hotel' becomes 'h' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'desire' becomes 'yen' (yen can mean a longing or desire).
'to get' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'essentially' means to look at the middle letters.
The middle of 'ham' is 'a'.
'h'+'yen'+'a'='HYENA'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for hyena that I've seen before include "Carrion-eating, dog-like animal" , "African canine" , "one may be spotted" , "Predatory dog-like animal, makes sound like laughing" , "Laughing mammal?" .)