Receptionen ligger ved siden af elevatoren.

Because Danish often puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

• reception = reception
• receptionen = the reception
• elevator = elevator
• elevatoren = the elevator

So:

• Receptionen ligger ved siden af elevatoren
  = The reception is next to the elevator

Both nouns here are in the definite singular form.

In Danish, ligge is very commonly used for the location of places, buildings, rooms, shops, and similar things.

So ligger often means:

• is located
• lies
• is situated

That is why Receptionen ligger ved siden af elevatoren sounds natural in Danish.

If you translated very literally, it would be closer to:

• The reception is located next to the elevator

Using er is not usually the natural choice for this kind of physical location.

Ved siden af is a fixed expression meaning:

• next to
• beside

So:

• ved = by / at
• siden = side
• af = of

But you should learn ved siden af as a whole phrase, because its meaning is idiomatic.

Examples:

• Toilettet ligger ved siden af køkkenet = The toilet is next to the kitchen.
• Han sidder ved siden af mig = He is sitting next to me.

Sometimes, yes. Receptionen can refer to:

• the reception area
• the front desk
• the reception desk

The exact meaning depends on context.

In a hotel or office building, Receptionen ligger ved siden af elevatoren could mean:

• the reception area is next to the elevator, or
• the reception desk is next to the elevator

Danish often leaves that a bit broader than English.

The basic word order is:

Subject + verb + place expression

So here:

• Receptionen = subject
• ligger = verb
• ved siden af elevatoren = place expression

This is quite similar to English:

• The reception
  • is located
    • next to the elevator

So this sentence is structurally straightforward for an English speaker.

Because Danish usually adds definiteness directly to the noun.

Compare:

• en elevator = an elevator

• elevatoren = the elevator

• en reception = a reception
• receptionen = the reception

English uses a separate word (the), but Danish often uses a suffix.

This is one of the most important differences between English and Danish nouns.

Yes. They are normal Danish words, even though they are international-looking and resemble English.

That is common in Danish. Some words are borrowed or shared across languages, but they still follow Danish grammar:

• en reception → receptionen
• en elevator → elevatoren

So even if the words look familiar, the grammar around them is distinctly Danish.

A Danish speaker would usually prefer ligger here.

• Receptionen ligger ved siden af elevatoren = natural
• Receptionen er ved siden af elevatoren = understandable, but less idiomatic

For physical location, especially with places and rooms, ligger is the more natural verb.

They mean different things:

• ved siden af elevatoren = next to the elevator
• ved elevatoren = by / at the elevator

So ved siden af is more specific. It tells you that something is beside the elevator, not just somewhere near it.

Both are common gender nouns in Danish, which is why the singular indefinite article is en:

• en reception
• en elevator

And that is also why the definite singular ending is -en:

• receptionen
• elevatoren

If they were neuter nouns, you would expect et in the indefinite form and usually -et in the definite form.

A rough guide for an English speaker is:

re-sep-sho-nen LIG-er vel SY-ne af e-le-va-TO-ren

A few useful notes:

• Receptionen is pronounced more like resepshonen than the English reception
• ligger has a short i sound
• ved siden af is often said quite smoothly in normal speech
• elevatoren has the stress near the end: -to-

This is only an approximation, but it can help you recognize the sentence when you hear it.

You can add lige for emphasis:

• Receptionen ligger lige ved siden af elevatoren.

Here lige means something like:

• right
• just

So this makes the location sound a bit more precise or emphatic.