Community‐acquired methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA‐MRSA) is an emerging pathogen in hospitalized patients worldwide. The present study was undertaken to identify CA‐MRSA in hospitalized patients in a 350‐bed tertiary care hospital in Sharjah, UAE over a 2‐year period from January 2011 to December 2012. CA‐MRSA was defined based on identification within first 48 h of admission in the hospital. Staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCC) mec typing of the CA‐MRSA isolates was carried out by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Detection of PVL and mecA genes was done by PCR using the GenoType® MRSA test system (Hain Lifescience). Patient's clinical data and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of the CA‐MRSA isolates were also evaluated. Fifty seven of the 187 MRSA isolates were identified as CA‐MRSA. All the CA‐MRSA strains in our study belonged to SCCmecIV type and were positive for both PVL and mecA genes. The patients with CA‐MRSA infections were young (median age, 32 years) and the majority of infections involved the skin and soft tissue (36%). Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of the CA‐MRSA isolates showed a better susceptibility profile to the non‐beta‐lactam antimicrobials with the exception of ciprofloxacin having 28% resistance. This study evidently strengthens the recent observation of an increase in CA‐MRSA emergence among hospitalized patients in the UAE.