This claim has no basis yet. Nowhere officially it's written there needs to be an HRG number or whatever. I see lots of people on various groups able to book it directly through hotels. These people have confirmed with the Hotel that this booking is legitimate. As the government contact number is overwhelmed, they have apparently offloaded this to hotels.
However, we will only know what's the truth once they reach there. I believe Hotels wouldn't risk doing such a blunder if they weren't sure. I don't know why this person is hellbent on proving otherwise without any official statement. I could be wrong but I don't have anything official to cite otherwise, so I'd trust the Hotels.