Paul veut se faire rembourser les frais de stationnement, car le parking de l’hôtel était complet.

Se faire + infinitive is a very common French pattern meaning to get something done or to have something done for oneself.

So:

• Paul veut se faire rembourser... = Paul wants to get reimbursed
• more literally: Paul wants to have the expenses reimbursed to him

The se shows that the action benefits Paul himself.

This structure is often more natural in French than trying to translate word-for-word from English. Compare:

• Il s’est fait couper les cheveux. = He got his hair cut.
• Elle veut se faire rembourser. = She wants to get reimbursed.

French could also use other expressions, but se faire rembourser is very idiomatic here.

Se refers back to Paul.

It does not mean that Paul is reimbursing himself. Instead, it means that Paul wants the reimbursement for himself.

So in this structure:

• Paul veut se faire rembourser = Paul wants someone to reimburse him

This is one of those cases where French uses a reflexive-looking structure, but the meaning is closer to get something done for oneself than to a literal reflexive action.

In French, les frais is the normal expression for costs, expenses, fees, charges.

So:

• les frais de stationnement = parking fees / parking expenses

The singular frais exists in some uses, but when talking about expenses, French normally uses the plural.

Very common examples:

• les frais de transport = transport costs
• les frais de livraison = delivery charges
• les frais de dossier = administrative/application fees

It means parking fees or parking expenses.

Breaking it down:

• les frais = costs / expenses / fees
• de stationnement = related to parking

So this phrase refers to the money Paul had to spend on parking, probably because the hotel’s own parking lot had no space left.

A useful point: stationnement refers to the act of parking or parking as a function, while parking usually refers to the parking area / car park / parking lot.

They are related, but not the same.

• stationnement = parking as an activity or concept
• parking = a parking lot / car park / parking area

So here:

• les frais de stationnement = the fees Paul had to pay for parking
• le parking de l’hôtel = the hotel’s parking lot

This is very natural French. Using both words helps make the meaning more precise.

Yes. Parking is widely used in French, especially in France, and it usually means parking lot or car park.

It is a borrowed word from English, but its meaning in French is narrower than in English. In French:

• un parking = a parking lot / car park
• not usually the act of parking

That is why French says:

• les frais de stationnement for parking fees
• le parking de l’hôtel for the hotel parking lot

Also, parking is masculine:

• le parking

Because hôtel begins with a mute h, which behaves like a vowel sound in French.

So after de, French uses de l’ before a vowel or mute h:

• de l’hôtel
• de l’hôpital
• de l’école

You only get du when de + le comes before a normal consonant sound:

• du parking
• du restaurant
• du musée

So de l’hôtel is correct because hôtel begins with a mute h.

Both are possible, but complet is very natural in French for places, services, and events that are full or fully booked.

So:

• le parking était complet = the parking lot was full

French often uses complet where English would say full:

• L’hôtel est complet. = The hotel is fully booked.
• Le train est complet. = The train is full / fully booked.
• Le parking est complet. = The parking lot is full.

Plein is also possible in everyday speech, but complet sounds especially natural here.

French uses the imperfect here because it gives background information or describes a situation.

• le parking de l’hôtel était complet = the hotel parking was full

This explains the circumstance that caused Paul’s parking expenses.

The imperfect is often used for:

• descriptions
• background conditions
• ongoing states in the past

Here the sentence is not focusing on the moment the parking lot became full. It is focusing on the fact that, at that time, it was full.

That is why était sounds natural.

Both mean because, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.

• car is often a little more formal or written
• parce que is more common in everyday speech

In this sentence:

• car le parking de l’hôtel était complet

sounds natural and elegant in written French.

A learner should know:

• In conversation, many speakers would naturally say parce que
• Car is common in writing and explanations
• Car usually introduces a reason or justification, rather than answering a direct question

So the sentence could also be:

• Paul veut se faire rembourser les frais de stationnement, parce que le parking de l’hôtel était complet.

But car works very well here.

The main conjugated verb is:

• veut = wants

Everything after that is the infinitive phrase:

• se faire rembourser les frais de stationnement

So the structure is:

• Paul = subject
• veut = conjugated verb
• se faire rembourser... = what he wants to do

This is a common pattern after verbs like:

• vouloir = to want
• pouvoir = to be able to
• devoir = to have to
• aimer = to like

For example:

• Elle veut partir. = She wants to leave.
• Il veut se faire aider. = He wants to get help.
• Paul veut se faire rembourser les frais. = Paul wants to get the expenses reimbursed.

Yes, but the nuance is slightly different.

• être remboursé = to be reimbursed
• se faire rembourser = to get oneself reimbursed / to have the reimbursement arranged

Se faire rembourser often sounds more active: Paul wants to take steps so that someone reimburses him.

By contrast, être remboursé can sound a little more neutral and focused on the result.

So both are understandable, but se faire rembourser les frais is especially idiomatic when someone is seeking reimbursement.

French often uses de + noun with no article when the second noun describes the type or function of the first noun.

So:

• les frais de stationnement = parking fees
• les frais de transport = transport costs
• une salle de bain = bathroom
• un ticket de métro = metro ticket

Here, de stationnement classifies what kind of fees they are.

If you added an article, it would usually sound more specific or less idiomatic in this context.

Yes. The thing being reimbursed is:

• les frais de stationnement

So literally, French is thinking along the lines of:

• reimburse the parking expenses to Paul

In se faire rembourser les frais, Paul is the person who benefits, and les frais is the thing being reimbursed.

That is why the sentence keeps les frais de stationnement after the verb phrase.