I wouldn't trust a front desk clerk to know the details of a particular IHG promotion; she was probably instructed to mention it to drum up profitable in-house F&B sales...
There was a similar promo a year ago, which got me fooled when though I had it in print. After filing for missing points with IHG CS, I was told reward stays were not eligible, which was indeed mentioned in the T&C fine print - my fault for not noticing it. I had assumed the promo would apply, as it made no sense to exclude reward stays: presumably getting profitable F&B spend from an unprofitable guest should be very desirable for any IC?
To be clear, my F&B spend did automatically post as 100% elite-qualifying, plus elite bonus, with only the double points promotional bonus denied. IIRC that bonus did require signing up with a promo code, which I legitimately did as I had been emailed the offer.