I put one in front of my airport entrance, its great to stop people from running through your island, they have to get around the fountain first! I also put on as a centerpiece in a formal garden area with flowers and shrubs!
i have 2 currently in front of rs and one in the middle of the main room in my house - i’ve seen a lot of people put benches around the fountain (typically 1 on each side) along with some bushes and flowers which i think is really pretty!
I'm probably going to put up a fountain in front of my restaurant/inn but not entirely sure yet as I'm also thinking of adding dining tables on the front but I have only a little space to work on so we'll see lol...
I see fountains used mostly in front of buildings like the museum for example, and like a shopping district/town square/plazas and such where people would go to like a park of some sort, and the way you decorate it would totally depend on your theme and the vibe you're going for, but I usually see it being decorated luxuriously with bushes/hedges/trees/benches even statues on the side to complete the look, or just a simple benches on its side with a few bushes on more humble themes...
It'll really depend on what look you're going for that won't look out of place in your town!
mine is in front of my resident services centre. It is surrounded by white hyacinths and jacob's ladders, then around that I have put the iron fence. You can walk all around it via the cobblestone pathways. It looks quite classy if I do say so myself