tenin wa 「shichakushitsu wa uketsuke no yoko ni arimasu」 to iimashita.

The clerk said, “The fitting room is next to the reception desk.”

Breakdown of tenin wa 「shichakushitsu wa uketsuke no yoko ni arimasu」 to iimashita.

• は: topic particle
• の: possessive case particle
• と: quotative particle
• ある: to exist

Questions & Answers about tenin wa 「shichakushitsu wa uketsuke no yoko ni arimasu」 to iimashita.

Why are there two は particles in this sentence?

They belong to two different layers of the sentence.

• The first は in 店員は marks the shop clerk as the topic of the whole sentence.
• The second は in 試着室は受付の横にあります is inside the quoted speech, where 試着室 is the topic of what the clerk said.

So the structure is basically:

• As for the shop clerk,
  they said:
• As for the fitting room,
  it is next to the reception desk.

What does と do after the quoted sentence?

The と after あります marks the content of a quotation before a verb like 言いました.

So:

• 「試着室は受付の横にあります」 = the quoted words
• と = marks that quote
• 言いました = said

This pattern is very common:

• A と言いました = said A
• A と思います = think A
• A と書いてあります = it says A

Why is あります used instead of います?