Salutary

Definition: producing good effects; beneficial.

It means something is not objectively pleasant, but that provides some benefit.

Why I Looked It Up

I found this in a sabbatical application submitted by a university professor:

Rubbing shoulders with [discipline] scholars again with be salutary.

In this case, the use was more generic – rubbing shoulders with other scholars wasn’t viewed as negative; “salutary” just meaning “good” more generally.